| Abstract: | Background and Aims: The American Heart Association (AHA) has recently issued guidelines addressing the “Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Syndrome” to mitigate cardiovascular diseases. In parallel, European healthcare entities have established the CaReMe (CArdioRenal and MEtabolic) Partnership, emphasizing interdisciplinary health concepts. This study aims to evaluate CKM prevalence and its associated components in a substantial Asian cohort, along with the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Method: The investigation focused on a cohort of 565 940 participants aged 20 years and above enrolled in a health screening program in Taiwan spanning from 1994 to 2017. The study assessed cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cause-specific mortality related to CKM stages and its components—hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, and hyperlipidemia. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were employed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs). Results: In this cohort with more than half-a-million Asian adults, approximately 74.3% exhibit CKM syndrome, distributed as 28.1% in Stage 1, 38.9% in Stage 2, 4.9% in Stage 3, and 2.4% in Stage 4. Among individuals aged 50 and above, almost 90% had CKM. The CKM components—hypertension (20.5%), chronic kidney disease (CKD) (11.1%), hyperlipidemia (28.4%), metabolic syndrome (13.1%), and diabetes (5.5%)—display diverse prevalence rates. We identified 13,449 participants who had CVD mortality, and the median follow-up was 15 years. CKM predicts CVD mortality with a dose-response relationship: Hazard Ratios (HRs) for Stage 2 is 2.34 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.06, 2.65); HR for Stage 3 is 2.69 (95% CI: 2.36, 3.07), and HR for Stage 4 is 4.70 (95% CI: 4.11, 5.39). Within CKM, 43.3% have two or more components, 20.4% have three or more, and 7.3% have four or more. In those aged 65 and above, 66.6% have two or more components, 37.9% have three or more, and 17.8% have four or more. Participants with two or more components exhibit a higher CVD mortality risk than those with a single CKM component. Conclusion: The prevalence rates of CKM and its components vary, contributing to distinct risks of cardiovascular disease mortality. A clustering phenomenon exists among different components, where an increased number of clustered factors corresponds to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease mortality |
