EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Stress Health. 2024 Apr;40(2):e3312. doi: 10.1002/smi.3312. Epub 2023 Sep 7.
The link between stressful life events (SLE) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remains underexplored. This study aimed to examine the association between SLE and the diagnosis of heart disease or stroke, among older adults. Data from 678 participants from the population-based cohort EPIPorto, with ≥60 years and complete information regarding SLE and heart disease or stroke, were analysed. Stressful life events were measured through the 'Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire'. A previous diagnosis of heart disease or stroke was self-reported. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) with the respective 95% confidence intervals were computed through logistic regression. Almost a fourth of the participants never experienced any SLE throughout life, 30.0% experienced at least one event, 17.5% experienced two and 27.7% had experienced three or more SLE. A dose-effect association between SLE and the diagnosis of heart disease or stroke was observed, statistically significant for those who had at least 3 types of SLE, independently of confounders (≥3SLE vs. 0SLE: OR = 2.00; 95% CI: 1.12-3.57). This cross-sectional study suggests that cumulative exposure to different types of SLE during the life course was associated with a higher likelihood of having a diagnosis of heart disease or a stroke at a later age. Future longitudinal studies should better deepen this association, particularly by evaluating which type of SLE is more related to a higher prevalence of heart disease and stroke, and how the timing of the SLE influence this relation.
生活应激事件（SLE）与心血管疾病（CVD）之间的关联仍未得到充分探究。本研究旨在探讨生活应激事件与老年人群中心脏病或中风诊断之间的关联。该研究的数据来自基于人群的 EPIPorto 队列的 678 名参与者，这些参与者年龄均≥60 岁，且均有关于 SLE 和心脏病或中风的完整信息。生活应激事件通过“生活应激事件筛查问卷”进行测量。先前的心脏病或中风诊断为自我报告。通过逻辑回归计算调整后的优势比（OR）及其相应的 95%置信区间。近四分之一的参与者一生中从未经历过任何 SLE，30.0%的参与者经历过至少一次事件，17.5%的参与者经历过两次，27.7%的参与者经历过三次或更多次 SLE。SLE 与心脏病或中风诊断之间存在剂量-效应关联，对于经历过至少 3 种类型 SLE 的参与者，这种关联在统计学上是显著的，且不受混杂因素的影响（≥3SLE 与 0SLE：OR=2.00；95%CI：1.12-3.57）。这项横断面研究表明，一生中累积暴露于不同类型的 SLE 与晚年更有可能被诊断为心脏病或中风有关。未来的纵向研究应更好地深入探讨这种关联，特别是通过评估哪种类型的 SLE 与更高的心脏病和中风患病率更相关，以及 SLE 的时间如何影响这种关系。
