Journal of the American Heart Association
October 16, 2026 · via Europe PMC
American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 and Heart Failure in Black Individuals: An Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Rasberry KA, Oputa O, Boyd KP, +9 more, Okwuosa IS
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Among Black individuals in NHANES, heart failure appeared at markedly younger ages than in White individuals, and physical activity was the Life's Essential 8 behavior that appeared protective.
What was studied
Cross-sectional analysis of 107 622 NHANES participants (1999 to 2020) grouped by self-reported race, using self-reported sleep, physical activity, smoking, diet, and diagnoses of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and heart failure in multivariable logistic regression among Black individuals.
Key findings
- Black individuals were diagnosed with heart failure at a younger age than White individuals (54 years vs 65 years).
- Body mass index, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes were each independently associated with heart failure risk.
- Physical activity appeared protective against heart failure.
Clinical relevance
The findings support early, targeted prevention in Black patients, with attention to cardiometabolic risk factors and encouragement of physical activity well before the typical age of heart failure onset.
Who should care
Limitations
The abstract is cut off in the results section, so odds ratios and most effect sizes are not available. Exposures and outcomes were self-reported, and the cross-sectional design cannot show causation or timing.
Heart failure strikes Black adults much earlier, and cardiometabolic risk factors plus low physical activity track with it, but exact effect sizes need the full paper.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Self-reported Black individuals have a disproportionately high prevalence of heart failure (HF) compared with other racial groups. In an effort to empower patients and health providers to combat cardiovascular disease, the American Heart Association identified Life's Essential 8 as the 8 health behaviors crucial for heart health. In this study, we evaluate the association between components of Life's Essential 8 and HF outcomes among Black individuals.
METHODS
This cross-sectional observational study analyzed 107 622 individuals captured in the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) from 1999 to 2020 who were categorized by self-reported race. To represent Life's Essential 8, variables of self-reported sleep duration, physical activity, smoking status, and dietary habits were used. Additionally, self-reported diagnoses of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and heart failure were included. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the associations between Life's Essential 8 components and HF among Black individuals.
RESULTS
Black individuals were diagnosed with HF at a younger age compared with White individuals (54 years vs 65 years,<0.001). Among Black individuals, body mass index (odds ratio [OR], 1.041 [95% CI, 1.027-1.055],=0.02), hypertension (OR, 3.175 [95% CI, 2.14-4.69],<0.0001), hyperlipidemia (OR, 1.36 [95% CI, 1.04-1.76],=0.02), and diabetes (OR, 2.07 [95% CI, 1.60-2.67],≤0.0001) were associated with increased odds of HF. Physical activity was associated with lower odds (OR, 0.564 [95% CI, 0.38-0.836],=0.004) of HF in Black individuals.
CONCLUSIONS
Black individuals experienced HF at significantly younger ages, with traditional cardiometabolic factors (body mass index, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes) each independently being associated with HF risk. Physical activity appears protective, underscoring the importance of early, targeted prevention strategies.
DOI
10.1161/JAHA.126.049656
PMID
42885784
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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