Changes in health behaviors and risk of cardiovascular disease among midlife and aging municipal employees with and without metabolic risk factors: A register-linkage cohort study in Finland.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate associations between changes in health behaviors and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among municipal employees, stratified by baseline metabolic risk factors (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, diabetes).

METHODS

We followed 4470 municipal employees in Helsinki, Finland (74 % women; median age 56.1 years) for an average of 11 years (2007-2022) to assess incident CVD. Survival curves estimated median survival differences, and hazard ratios (HRs) evaluated CVD risk related to changes in smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, diet, and sleep.

RESULTS

During the follow-up, 1879 (42 %) individuals developed CVD. Among those without metabolic risk factors, improvement in health behavior score was linked to reduced CVD risk and an 8.1-year longer median survival (HR = 0.59, 95 % CI = 0.41-0.86). Across metabolic risk-factor groups, the most considerable reductions were observed in the transition from physical inactivity to activity among individuals with hypertension (HR = 0.66, 95 % CI = 0.49-0.87), diabetes (HR = 0.51, 95 % CI = 0.30-0.87), and obesity (HR = 0.63, 95 % CI = 0.43-0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

Changes in health behaviors were associated with CVD risk, varying by metabolic factors. Findings support targeted interventions to promote behavior change, particularly increasing physical activity in those with metabolic risks.