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Association between Life’s Essential 8 and rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) exhibits a robust association with cardiovascular disease. Our study aims to elucidate the correlation between RA prevalence and Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), a recently updated measure of cardiovascular health (CVH).

Methods and results

We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning from 2007 to 2018. Utilizing multivariable logistic and restricted cubic spline models, we explored the relationship between LE8 and RA. Our analysis included 17,263 participants. We found that higher LE8 scores were closely associated with reduced odds of RA (odds ratio for each 10-point increase, 0.91 (95% CI, 0.75–0.87)). Furthermore, we observed a nonlinear association between LE8 and RA after adjusting for potential confounders. Specifically, higher scores for sleep health, nicotine exposure, body mass index, and blood pressure within the LE8 components were significantly correlated with a lower risk of RA. Additionally, the inverse relationship between LE8 scores and RA was notably stronger among young and female individuals.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest a negative correlation between LE8 and RA prevalence, indicating that adherence to the lifestyle defined by LE8 may confer protective effects against RA.

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Data availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Bei**g, 100730, People’s Republic of China

    Fuze Liu & Hai Wang

  2. School of Clinical Medical, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 261053, China

    Fuhui Liu

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  1. Fuze Liu
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Fuhui Liu and Hai Wang participated in reviewing the articles. Fuze Liu wrote the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hai Wang.

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Key points

• LE8 and its subscales demonstrated significant negative associations with the prevalence of RA.

• A nonlinear relationship between LE8 and health behavior scores with RA.

• Highlight the importance of prioritizing certain components of LE8, such as sleep health, nicotine exposure, BMI, and blood pressure scores.

• The intensity of the relationship between LE8 scores and RA varied across different populations.

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Liu, F., Liu, F. & Wang, H. Association between Life’s Essential 8 and rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-024-07036-w

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