Effect of healthy lifestyle index and lifestyle patterns on the risk of mortality: A community-based cohort study

Abstract

Background: Limited evidence was available on the association of the integrated effect of multidimensional lifestyle factors with mortality among Chinese populations. This cohort study was to examine the effect of combined lifestyle factors on the risk of mortality by highlighting the number of healthy lifestyles and their overall effects. Methods: A total of 11,395 participants from the Guangzhou Heart Study (GZHS) were followed up until 1 January 2020. Individual causes of death were obtained from the platform of the National Death Registry of China. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was established from seven dimensions of lifestyle, and lifestyle patterns were extracted from eight dimensions of lifestyle using principal component analysis (PCA). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: During 35,837 person-years of follow-up, 184 deaths (1.61%) were observed, including 64 from cardiovascular disease. After adjustment for confounders, HLI was associated with a 50% (HR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25–0.99) reduced risk of all-cause mortality when comparing the high (6–7 lifestyle factors) with low (0–2 lifestyle factors) categories. Three lifestyle patterns were defined and labeled as pattern I, II, and III. Lifestyle pattern II with higher factor loadings of non-smoking and low-level alcohol drinking was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.92, P–trend = 0.023) when comparing the high with low tertiles of pattern score, after adjustment for confounders. Every 1-unit increment of pattern II score was associated with a decreased risk (HR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95–0.99) of all-cause mortality. The other two patterns were not associated with all-cause mortality, and the association of cardiovascular mortality risk was observed with neither HLI nor any lifestyle pattern. Conclusion: The results suggest that the more dimensions of the healthy lifestyle the lower the risk of death, and adherence to the lifestyle pattern characterized with heavier loading of non-smoking and low-level alcohol drinking reduces the risk of all-cause mortality. The findings highlight the need to consider multi-dimensional lifestyles rather than one when developing health promotion strategies.