Association of ideal cardiovascular health with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in a young adult population

Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) is associated with a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to investigate the association of CVH metrics with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) as a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in young adults. A cross-sectional study was performed on 1295 adults, average age of 29.7 ± 4.0 years, selected from the participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. The participants were divided into three groups based on the overall CVH score: ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH. Multivariate-adjusted linear regression was used to determine the association of the CVH score with cIMT. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for high cIMT (≥ 95% percentile). Also, the independent effects of each ideal CVH metric on cIMT were analyzed. The prevalence of ideal CVH was 6.4% in men and 12.4% in women, and mean cIMT was obtained 0.53 ± 0.09 mm in men and 0.57 ± 0.08 mm in women. A 1-point increase of the CVH score in men and women was associated with a cIMT decrease of 0.009 and 0.011 mm (men: Beta [SE] = − 0.009 [0.003]; women: − 0.011 [0.007], p < 0.001), rendering the ORs of 0.66 and 0.70 for having a high cIMT (≥ 95% percentile), respectively. Ideal blood pressure in both sexes and body mass index in women had significant inverse association with cIMT. There was an inverse graded association between the CVH score and cIMT among young adults, indicating that ideal CVH metrics were associated with better vascular health in this population.