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Joint association of the cholesterol–HDL–glucose index and frailty with new-onset cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older adults: evidence from the prospective cohort

delete2026-08-13
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Shuxiang Li
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Xinshui Wang
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Xiaohong Jiang
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Xiaomin Luo *
DOI:10.1186/s12944-026-03007-zdelete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability among middle-aged and older adults. Metabolic burden and frailty frequently co-occur in this population. However, few quantitative indicators capture their combined contribution to cardiovascular risk. We examined the association between a composite indicator integrating the cholesterol–HDL–glucose (CHG) index and the frailty index (FI) and the risk of incident CVD. Using baseline data from 2011 and follow-up data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we included participants aged ≥ 45 years without baseline CVD. CHG-FI was constructed by integrating CHG and FI in a multiplicative form; FI was derived using a cumulative deficit model. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to assess dose–response relationships. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to examine the robustness of the findings. A total of 7,123 participants were included. During a median follow-up of 9 years, 1,655 participants developed incident CVD (23.2%), including 554 cases of stroke (7.8%) and 1,287 cases of heart disease (18.1%). In the fully adjusted model, each one-unit increase in CHG-FI was associated with a 61% higher risk of CVD (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.48–1.75), a 56% higher risk of stroke (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.35–1.80), and a 64% higher risk of heart disease (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.49–1.80) (all P < 0.001). Compared with Q1, the risks of incident CVD, stroke, and heart disease generally increased across higher quartiles of CHG-FI. RCS analyses revealed a positive dose–response association of CHG-FI with incident CVD and heart disease, with significant nonlinearity for both outcomes (all P for non-linearity < 0.001). In contrast, stroke risk showed a more nearly linear pattern after full adjustment (P for non-linearity = 0.074). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses yielded findings broadly consistent with the primary analysis. Higher CHG-FI was independently associated with increased risks of incident CVD, stroke, and heart disease. CHG-FI may provide complementary information for early cardiovascular risk identification in middle-aged and older adults, although its incremental predictive value beyond FI alone appears modest. Further validation is needed before its clinical utility can be more firmly established.

Journal

Lipids in Health and Disease cover
Lipids in Health and Disease
IF:
4.2
Papers:
4.0K
Citations:
1.1W

Organization

D
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism
Scholars:
590
Papers: 201
Citations: 0
D
department of articular orthopaedics
Scholars:
2
Papers: 2
Citations: 0
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