Association between asthma and advanced cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome in U.S. adults, a cross-sectional study from NHANES 2011-2023.

BACKGROUND

In 2023, the American Heart Association presented a new condition, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, recognized for its multistage and multisystem nature. Given that inflammatory condition can enhance the risk for CKM syndrome and asthma is a disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation, asthma could potentially increase the progression through CKM syndrome stages. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between asthma and advanced CKM syndrome.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study used data on U.S. adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2023. Participants were categorized into five CKM stages (0-4) according to the clinical severity of CKM syndrome. CKM syndrome was defined as stage 1 or above, with advanced stages being stage 3 or 4. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on asthma. Multivariable weighted logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between asthma and the prevalence of advanced CKM syndrome.

RESULTS

A total of 22,394 CKM syndrome patients were included in the final analysis, of which 3610 were categorized into advanced CKM syndrome, while the remaining 18,784 were not. After adjusting confounding covariates, asthma was associated with advanced CKM syndrome (odds ratio, 1.86; 95 % confidence interval, 1.59-2.18; p < 0.0001). Further subgroup and sensitivity analyses showed consistent results.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cross-sectional study, asthma was positively associated with advanced CKM syndrome in the U.S. adult population. These findings highlight the significance of considering asthma as a risk-enhancing factor for advanced CKM syndrome stages prevention.