Cardiovascular health among older U.S. adults with certain cardiovascular diseases showed significant deterioration between 2013 and 2018, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The study analyzed data from 3,050 adults aged 65 and older, finding particularly steep declines in those with high blood pressure, stroke, or heart failure. Researchers utilized the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 health metrics to assess cardiovascular health, which measures eight components including diet, physical activity, smoking status, sleep, body mass index, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
Participants with no cardiovascular disease maintained an average score of 68 out of 100, while those with cardiovascular conditions scored below 60, with scores declining further with each additional disease. The analysis revealed alarming trends: cardiovascular health scores decreased by approximately 4.1% among people with high blood pressure, 11.5% among those with a history of stroke, and 15.2% among individuals with heart failure during the study period. Study co-author James M. Walker noted that physical activity and blood pressure scores were particularly low for people with cardiovascular disease, explaining much of the health gap between those with and without cardiovascular conditions.
This research establishes a critical pre-pandemic baseline for understanding cardiovascular health trends in older adults. The findings suggest that earlier intervention and support for maintaining physical activity and blood pressure control could help mitigate health declines in the aging population. As the study used cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, it cannot establish causation but provides important observational evidence of deteriorating cardiovascular health in vulnerable older populations. The complete study is available through the Journal of the American Heart Association.
