Parental cardiometabolic multimorbidity and subsequent cardiovascular incidence in middle-aged adults: A prospective cohort study

Background

The prevalence of cardiometabolic multimorbidity, defined as the coexistence of two or three cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), including coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, and stroke, has increased rapidly in recent years, but the additive association between parental cardiometabolic multimorbidity and cardiovascular incidence in middle-aged adults remains unclear.

Methods

All the data analysed in this study were derived from the UK Biobank, and a total of 71,923 participants aged 40–55 years old without CVD were included in the main analyses. A weighted score was developed and grouped participants into four parental CMDs patterns: non-CMD, low burden, middle burden, and high burden. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the associations between parental CMDs pattern and CVD incidence before 65 years old. Improvement in CVD risk prediction by adding parental CMDs pattern to a basic model was evaluated.

Results

Among the 71,923 participants, 3070 CVD events were observed during a median 12.04 years of follow-up. Compared to non-CMD groups, adults in high burden group had a 94% (73–117%) increased risk of CVD. The restricted cubic spline analysis revealed an exposure-response association between parental CMDs burden and risk of CVD (P_nonlinear = 0.24). Additionally, models involving parental CMDs pattern showed slightly improvements in CVD risk prediction, especially for CHD.

Conclusion

An increased burden of parental CMDs was associated with an increased risk of CVD incidence in middle-aged adults. Parental CMDs pattern may provide valuable information in primary prevention of CVD in middle-aged adults.