Association of new Life’s Essential 8 with biological aging among the national health and nutrition examination surveys

The Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score was updated by the American Heart Association, which constituted cardiovascular health (CVH) and was significantly associated with overall and cardiovascular disease-specific mortality. The aim of this research was to evaluate the connection between LE8, the newly revised indicator of cardiovascular health, and the acceleration of biological age. Participants for this study were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The LE8 scores, derived from measurements following the American Heart Association definitions, were categorized into three levels: low, moderate, and high, on a scale of 0 to 100. The PhenoAge algorithm was used to compute biological age, while the PhenoAge advancement was used to assess biological age acceleration. Linear and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between the LE8 score and biological age. A total of 17,153 individuals with an average age of 47.54 were included in the study. The average LE8 score was 68, and the average Phenotypic age was 44.61. Individuals with higher LE8 scores were found to have a younger Phenotypic age, as demonstrated by their lower PhenoAge scores. After controlling for potential confounding variables, a higher LE8 score was found to be associated with a decrease in PhenoAge advancement (β = - 1.22, P < 0.01) and a lower likelihood of biological aging (OR = 0.65, P < 0.01). Both health behavior and health factor scores were associated with biological aging (both P < 0.01). Each type of LE8 score in the high group was positively associated with biological aging (both P < 0.01). A significant inverse association between LE8 score and biological aging was observed in all subgroups (both P < 0.01). The LE8 and its subscale scores showed a negative association with the likelihood of phenotypic aging. Maintaining ideal CVH levels could be advantageous in avoiding the potential acceleration of biological aging.