Association of the Life's Essential 8 cardiovascular health score with periodontitis among US adults

Abstract Aim To investigate whether cardiovascular health (CVH) is associated with periodontitis. Materials and Methods We used data from the 2009 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We quantified CVH using Life's Essential 8, which includes four health behaviours (diet, smoking, physical activity and sleep) and four health factors (body mass index, blood cholesterol, glucose and pressure). We categorized scores as low (0–49), moderate (50–79) and high (80–100). We calculated subscores of health behaviours and factors and categorized them as low, moderate and high. We used logistic regression to assess the association of CVH with periodontitis, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, poverty index, marital status and health insurance. We computed odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results This study included 9296 adults ≥30 years old. Multivariable‐adjusted models showed that subjects with moderate (OR, 0.62; 95% CI: 0.52–0.74) or high (OR, 0.43; 95% CI: 0.33–0.57) CVH had significantly lower odds of periodontitis compared to those with low CVH. These results were consistent in the health behaviours model, but the estimates in the health factors model were not significant. Conclusions Improving CVH may help prevent periodontitis. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings.