Association between clustering of cardiovascular risk factors and resting heart rate in Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

Fu-Yu Jing; Xiu-Ling Wang; Jia-Li Song; Yan Gao; Jian-Lan Cui; Wei Xu; Yang Yang; Li-Juan Song; Hai-Bo Zhang; Jia-Peng Lu; Xi Li; Xin Zheng

doi:10.11909/j.issn.1671-5411.2022.06.010

Association between clustering of cardiovascular risk factors and resting heart rate in Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

J Geriatr Cardiol. 2022 Jun 28;19(6):418-427. doi: 10.11909/j.issn.1671-5411.2022.06.010.

Authors

Fu-Yu Jing¹, Xiu-Ling Wang¹, Jia-Li Song¹, Yan Gao¹, Jian-Lan Cui¹, Wei Xu¹, Yang Yang¹, Li-Juan Song¹, Hai-Bo Zhang¹, Jia-Peng Lu¹, Xi Li¹, Xin Zheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ National Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, NHC Key Laboratory of Clinical Research for Cardiovascular Medications, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Beijing, China.
² National Clinical Research Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Shenzhen, Coronary Artery Disease Center, Fuwai Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenzhen, China.

PMID: 35845154
PMCID: PMC9248276
DOI: 10.11909/j.issn.1671-5411.2022.06.010

Abstract

Background: Epidemiologic studies have explored the association between a single cardiovascular risk factor (CVRF) and resting heart rate (RHR), but the research on the relation of multiple risk factors with RHR remains scarce. This study aimed to explore the associations between CVRFs clustering and the risk of elevated RHR.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, adults aged 35-75 years from 31 provinces were recruited by the China PEACE Million Persons Projects from September 2015 to August 2020. We focused on seven risk factors: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obesity, smoking, alcohol use, and low physical activity. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) for elevated RHR (> 80 beats/min).

Results: Among 1,045,405 participants, the mean age was 55.67 ± 9.86 years, and 60.4% of participants were women. The OR (95% CI) for elevated RHR for the groups with 1, 2, 3, 4 and ≥ 5 risk factor were 1.11 (1.08-1.13), 1.36 (1.33-1.39), 1.68 (1.64-1.72), 2.01 (1.96-2.07) and 2.58 (2.50-2.67), respectively (P _trend < 0.001). The association between the CVRFs clustering number and elevated RHR was much more pronounced in young males than in other age-sex subgroups. Clusters comprising more metabolic risk factors were associated with a higher risk of elevated RHR than those comprising more behavioral risk factors.

Conclusions: There was a significant positive association between the CVRFs clustering number and the risk of elevated RHR, particularly in young males. Compared clusters comprising more behavioral risk factors, clusters comprising more metabolic risk factors were associated with a higher risk of elevated RHR. RHR may serve as an indicator of the cumulative effect of multiple risk factors.