Abstract 4146930: Reported Stress Level is Associated with Cardiovascular Health in Young Adults – An Electronic Health Record Study of Nearly 1.4 Million Individuals

Background: Young adulthood (19–39 years) is the life stage of greatest declines in cardiovascular health (CVH). It is hypothesized that this decline may be related to competing demands (e.g., stressors) of this period of the lifecourse such as work and child-rearing. The AHA’s Life’s Essential 8 CVH framework identifies the scored domains (behavioral and clinical factors), as needing to be contextualized by the important construct of psychological health (including stress). However, scarce data are available to assess the relationship between CVH and reported stress – especially among YA. Purpose: The current study aims to be the first to use Cosmos electronic health record (EHR) data to assess the relationship between YA CVH and reported stress in a nationally representative, very large sample of YAs. Methods: Cosmos is a platform hosting de-identified Epic EHR data on >250 million patients. We assessed Cosmos data from May 2022 through April 2024 to identify all YAs with reported stress data (5-point scale from “not at all” to “very much”). We then compared trends of each CVH metric across stress categories. Results: 1,397,375 individuals 19 - 39 years of age had reported stress data available. The sample was 62% White, 17% Black, 4% Asian, 12% Hispanic, and 63% female. Generally, stress levels were stable across YA age groups (Figure 1). For lifestyle behavior related domains (physical activity (PA), smoking, and BMI), the prevalence of “poor” CVH scores (worst categorization) increased in YA as reported stress amount increased (Figure 2). Prevalence of “poor” scores in clinical metrics (BP, HbA1c, nonHDL-C) were not associated with stress. Conclusion: In a very large sample of YA, greater reported stress was associated worse CVH for the behavioral domains of PA, smoking and BMI. Interventions aimed at reducing stress in YA may have the added benefit of improving CVH.