Life satisfaction as modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention target: cross-cultural mediation in aging cohorts
Main finding · Incident CVD (fatal/non-fatal events)Result — go to the resultPooled hazard ratio 0.86 95% CI 0.79–0.91Authors' conclusion
Elevated life satisfaction is independently associated with reduced CVD risk in older adults, with loneliness as a partial mediator. Enhancing well-being and reducing loneliness may support cardiovascular health in aging populations.
Study context
- Population
- Older adults aged ≥60 in four international aging cohorts (HRS, ELSA, SHARE, CHARLS), 2010–2020participants with 267,903 observations
- Participants
- 101,474 adults
- Exposure
- Life satisfaction and incident CVD risk
- Outcome
- Incident CVD (fatal/non-fatal events)
- Follow-up
- Median 6.2 years
Methodological detailsprospective, international cohorts, generalized estimating equations, mediation models
- Prospective
- International cohorts
- Generalized estimating equations
- Mediation models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Pooled hazard ratio
0.86
95% CI 0.79–0.91
P < 0.001
High life satisfaction
pooled HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.79–0.91); P < 0.001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Incident CVD, excluding participants with baseline depression (sensitivity)
| Comparison | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| High life satisfaction | 0.84 (0.78–0.90) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Incident CVD by cohort
| Comparison | HR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High life satisfactionSHARE | 0.79 (0.72–0.86) | P < 0.001 | |
| High life satisfactionCHARLS | 0.93 (0.88–0.98) | P = 0.017 | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Incident CVD, excluding participants with baseline depression (sensitivity)
- Association robust in competing risk models
Incident CVD by subgroups (age, gender, education level, loneliness status)
- Inverse association consistent across subgroups; no statistically significant effect modification
- all P for interaction > 0.05
Mediation by loneliness
- Proportion of association mediated by loneliness
- 13.4% (P = 0.003)
Original publication
Life satisfaction as modifiable CVD prevention target: cross-cultural mediation in aging cohorts. Eur Heart J Qual Care Clin Outcomes. Published 17 July 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it