Association of Four Health Behaviors in Life's Essential 8 with the Incidence of Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus

Background: The association between health behaviors and the risk of developing hypertension and diabetes is not fully understood. We aimed to examine the association between four health behaviors involved in Life's Essential 8, the American Heart Association's key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health, and the incidence of hypertension and diabetes.

Methods: This observational cohort study used the JMDC Claims Database between 2005 and 2021, which is a health check-up and claims database. We analyzed 2,912,183 participants without a history of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or renal failure. Non-ideal health behaviors included smoking, slow gait speed, eating fast, and poor sleep quality.

Results: During 1140 ± 877 days, 201,385 hypertension and 142,156 diabetes events were recorded. In a multivariable Cox regression analysis, the risk of hypertension and diabetes increased with an increasing number of non-ideal health behaviors. The hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence interval [CI]) per 1-point increase in non-ideal health behavior components for hypertension and diabetes were 1.11 (1.10-1.11) and 1.08 (1.08-1.09), respectively. Each health behavior was independently associated with the incidence of hypertension and diabetes. A 1-point improvement in health behaviors was associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.93-0.95) and diabetes (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.94-0.96).

Conclusion: Factors that can be substituted for the four health behaviors involved in Life's Essential 8 can stratify the risk of hypertension and diabetes, and improving these health behaviors is useful in preventing hypertension and diabetes in general population.