Lifestyle risk behavior and atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk: An analysis using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Background Clustering lifestyle risk behaviors is important for predicting cardiovascular disease risk. However, it is unclear which behavior mediates other ones to influence cardiovascular disease risk. We aimed to assess the causal inference of each lifestyle risk behavior for the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk of the general population. Methods We performed a Bayesian network mediation analysis using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014 to 2019. The main exposure was a combination of lifestyle risk behaviors including unhealthy weight, heavy alcohol consumption, inadequate sleep, physical inactivity, excessive sodium intake, and current smoking among subjects 40 to 79 years of age. The high risk of ASCVD (≥7.5% for the 10-year risk) was assessed using logistic regression, Bayesian networks, and structural equational models to examine the causal relationships between these six lifestyle risk behaviors. Results Among all participants, the most prevalent lifestyle risk behavior for those at high risk for ASCVD was excessive sodium intake (95.6%), followed by inadequate sleep (49.9%) and physical inactivity (43.8%). Older age (65–79 years) and male sex were directly associated with a high risk for ASCVD. Physical inactivity, current smoking, excessive sodium intake, and unhealthy weight indirectly mediated the effects of older age (8.2% of the older age) and male sex (39.9% of males) to high ASCVD risk. Physical inactivity, current smoking, excessive sodium intake, and unhealthy weight particularly mediated the high ASCVD risk sequentially. Heavy alcohol consumption and inadequate sleep were not directly associated with high ASCVD risk and did not indirectly mediate the effects of older age and males on the high ASCVD risk. Conclusion Lifestyle risk behaviors mediated the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in a different manner. Especially, physical inactivity preceded current smoking, excessive sodium intake, and unhealthy weight in relation to high ASCVD risk, and this causal relationship was different according to age and sex. Therefore, tailored strategies according to specific target populations may be needed to effectively reduce the high ASCVD risk.