Over 15 million adults in the United States are at risk for heart failure (HF), with high blood pressure and obesity playing major roles.

Heart failure (HF) has become a growing health concern in the United States. A cross-sectional study utilized the Predicting Risk of Cardiovascular Disease EVENTs (PREVENT) equations to assess population-level risk for heart failure and associated factors.

Mounting Burden of Heart Failure

The results suggest that 15 million adults have an elevated risk for HF of which 4.3 million were not identified as having high risk for other heart disease.

The findings of the study are published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Clinical Characteristics and Current Management of U.S. Adults at Elevated Risk for Heart Failure Using the PREVENT Equations: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

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Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues studied data of 4,872 adults aged 30 to 79 years without known cardiovascular disease (CVD) who participated in the combined 2017 to March 2020 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Tracking the Risk of Heart Disease

The researchers used the American Heart Association’s PREVENT equations to estimate HF and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk over a 10-year period for a study population representing 143.2 million Americans. They found that the average estimated 10-year risk for HF was 3.7%, with 15 million adults having a 10-year risk for HF above 10%.

Most patients with a high risk of HF also had a high risk of ASCVD, but an estimated 4.3 million Americans with low ASCVD risk had high HF risk. Of those at elevated risk for HF, 62% were aged 70 to 79 and 14% were Black adults.

High Blood Pressure and Obesity: The Dual Threat in Elevated Heart Failure Risk

Over half of participants with elevated HF risk had elevated blood pressure and over half were overweight or obese. These results indicate that the most important interventions to reduce HF risk are hypertension control and weight loss.

The researchers suggest that future studies should focus on primary prevention of HF in people at high risk, including identifying screening protocols for HF and identifying risk reduction strategies.

References:

1. Clinical Characteristics and Current Management of U.S. Adults at Elevated Risk for Heart Failure Using the PREVENT Equations: A Cross-Sectional Analysis – (https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-24-01321)

Source-Eurekalert