Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Journal of the American Heart Association, 13(19), e035073. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.124.035073 Dr. Anna Nordström et al.
Points
- Researchers tracked nearly 5,000 individuals aged 70 and older over 4.9 years to assess how balance impairments might predict future cardiovascular disease events like stroke or heart attacks.
- The study measured lateral and anterior-posterior sway using a balance board and found that greater lateral sway significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular hospitalization, even when traditional risk factors were considered.
- With both eyes open and closed, each 1 mm increase in lateral sway correlated with higher hazard ratios for cardiovascular events, indicating that balance instability has clinical predictive value.
- Lateral sway emerged as one of the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular disease, with a population attributable fraction of 61 percent, suggesting it contributes substantially to overall risk.
- These results support incorporating balance assessments into routine health checks for older adults to help identify individuals at elevated cardiovascular risk before symptoms or disease onset occur.
Summary
This study aimed to examine the relationship between balance impairments and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in individuals aged 70 years and older. A cohort of 4,927 individuals free from CVD at baseline underwent balance assessments from 2012 to 2022. The balance parameters, including lateral and anterior-posterior sway, were measured using a balance board. The primary outcome was the time to first hospitalization for CVD events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, or angina pectoris. Over a mean follow-up of 4.9 years, 320 participants were hospitalized for CVD.
The study found increased lateral sway was associated with a higher risk of incident CVD. Specifically, in a test with eyes open, every 1 mm increase in lateral sway was linked to a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.014 (95% CI, 1.004–1.025, P=0.005) for CVD after adjusting for traditional risk factors. Similarly, with eyes closed, each 1 mm increase in lateral sway was associated with an HR of 1.015 (95% CI, 1.005–1.025, P=0.002). The analysis identified lateral sway as one of the four strongest independent predictors of CVD risk, with a population attributable fraction of 61% (95% CI, 54–68).
In conclusion, impaired lateral balance at baseline was independently associated with an increased risk of later CVD, even after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. These findings suggest that balance assessments, particularly measuring lateral sway, could serve as an early indicator of underlying atherosclerotic disease, offering the potential for earlier detection and intervention in at-risk populations.
Link to the article: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.035073
References Nordström, A., & Nordström, P. (2024). Impaired balance predicts cardiovascular disease in 70‐year‐old individuals—An observational study from the healthy aging initiative. Journal of the American Heart Association, 13(19), e035073. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.124.035073
