Psychological factors can improve heart disease risk calculations
Research we're watching
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
An online tool to predict heart disease risk, Life's Essential 8 (or LE8) weighs a set of traditional risk factors. A new study suggests that considering mental health might make the tool more accurate.
Published in the August 2024 issue of JACC Advances, the study included more than 21,000 adults who participated in nationwide health surveys beginning in 2011. Psychological health was assessed based on a two-question depression screening test. Having a high versus low LE8 score was linked to a 68% lower risk of dying from a heart-related cause. But when the score was enhanced with the depression screening results, the association was even stronger — a 77% lower risk of heart-related death.
One limitation of the study is the lack of accounting for other measures of psychological health, including stress and anxiety, as well as positive factors such as gratitude and optimism that are also known to influence heart health. Still, their findings support a possible future update to LE8 to encompass psychological health and well-being, perhaps known as "Life's Necessary 9."
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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