Background and aim: Chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with various health outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and cancers. Systemic immune inflammation index (SII) and system inflammation response index (SIRI) have lately been explored as novel prognostic markers for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. However, studies on prediction value in nationwide representative population are scarce, which limit their generalization. To bridge the knowledge gap, this study aims to prospectively assess the association of SII, SIRI with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Methods: From 1999 to 2018, 42,875 adults who were free of pregnancy, CVDs (stroke, acute coronary syndrome), cancers, and had follow-up records and participated in the NHANES were included in this study. SII and SIRI were quantified by calculating the composite inflammation indicators from the blood routine. To explore the characteristics of the population in different SII or SIRI levels, we divided them according to the quartile of SII or SIRI. The associations between SII, SIRI, and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality events were examined using a Cox regression model. To investigate whether there was a reliable relationship between these two indices and mortalities, we performed subgroup analysis based on sex and age.
Results: A total of 42,875 eligible individuals were enrolled, with a mean age of 44 ± 18 years old. During the follow-up period of up to 20 years, 4250 deaths occurred, including 998 deaths from CVDs. Cox proportional hazards modeling showed that adults with SII levels of >655.56 had higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-1.41) and cardiovascular mortality (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.11-1.59) than those with SII levels of <335.36. Adults with SIRI levels of >1.43 had higher risk of all-cause (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.26-1.52) and cardiovascular death (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.14-1.68) than those with SIRI levels of <0.68. In general population older than 60 years, the elevation of SII or SIRI was associated with the risk of all-cause death.
Conclusion: Two novel inflammatory composite indices, SII and SIRI, were closely associated with cardiovascular death and all-cause death, and more attention should be paid to systemic inflammation to provide better preventive strategies.
Keywords: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES); all-cause mortality; cardiovascular mortality; inflammation; system inflammation response index; systemic immune inflammation index.