S Harrison1, C Couillard1, J Robitaille1, M-C Vohl1, M Bélanger2, S Desroches1, V Provencher1, R Rabasa-Lhoret3, L Bouchard4, M-F Langlois5, J Houle6, S Lemieux1, B Lamarche7. 1. Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada; School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada. 2. Department of Family Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, Canada. 3. Montreal Clinical Research Institute, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H2W 1R7, Canada. 4. ECOGENE-21 Biocluster, Chicoutimi, Qc, G7H 7K9, Canada; Faculté de médecine et des Sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, Canada. 5. Faculté de médecine et des Sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1H 5N4, Canada. 6. Département des Sciences infirmières, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, QC, G9A 5H7, Canada. 7. Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada; School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada. Electronic address: benoit.lamarche@fsaa.ulaval.ca.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The "Life's Simple 7" (LS7) metrics were developed by the American Heart Association (AHA) to assess and promote cardiovascular health in the American population. The purpose of this study was to assess the overall cardiovascular health of French-speaking adults from the Province of Quebec using the LS7 score. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 777 age and sex-representative participants of five different administrative regions in the Province of Quebec (387 men and 390 women; mean age ± SEM: 41.9 ± 0.1 years) were included in these analyses. Metrics of the LS7 score (smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting total cholesterol and blood glucose) were analysed to generate a final score ranging from 0 to 7. Only 0.5% of participants met all criteria for ideal cardiovascular health. The diet metric showed the lowest prevalence of "ideal" scores (4.8%) whereas not smoking was the metric with the highest prevalence (88.1%). Women had a higher LS7 score than men, while age and education level (negative and positive association, respectively; p < 0.0001) were also associated with the LS7 score. CONCLUSION: Consistent with studies conducted among other populations, very few French-speaking adults from the Province of Quebec achieve an ideal cardiovascular health. These data indicate that further public health efforts aimed at promoting the LS7 metrics, focusing primarily on diet, are urgently needed. Specific groups, including older adults and those with lower levels of education, should be targeted when developing cardiovascular health promotion interventions.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The "Life's Simple 7" (LS7) metrics were developed by the American Heart Association (AHA) to assess and promote cardiovascular health in the American population. The purpose of this study was to assess the overall cardiovascular health of French-speaking adults from the Province of Quebec using the LS7 score. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 777 age and sex-representative participants of five different administrative regions in the Province of Quebec (387 men and 390 women; mean age ± SEM: 41.9 ± 0.1 years) were included in these analyses. Metrics of the LS7 score (smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting total cholesterol and blood glucose) were analysed to generate a final score ranging from 0 to 7. Only 0.5% of participants met all criteria for ideal cardiovascular health. The diet metric showed the lowest prevalence of "ideal" scores (4.8%) whereas not smoking was the metric with the highest prevalence (88.1%). Women had a higher LS7 score than men, while age and education level (negative and positive association, respectively; p < 0.0001) were also associated with the LS7 score. CONCLUSION: Consistent with studies conducted among other populations, very few French-speaking adults from the Province of Quebec achieve an ideal cardiovascular health. These data indicate that further public health efforts aimed at promoting the LS7 metrics, focusing primarily on diet, are urgently needed. Specific groups, including older adults and those with lower levels of education, should be targeted when developing cardiovascular health promotion interventions.