Comparing the “Life's Essential 8” Scores of Older Adults Living With Cardiovascular Diseases: NHANES, 2013 to 2018

LE8 scores remained stable or declined for older US adults before the COVID-19 pandemic. Populations with hypertension, stroke, and heart failure had significant LE8 score declines. Because LE8 metrics include behavioral and physiologic metrics associated with CVD risk, these data indicate concerning trends and primary and secondary prevention opportunities in older US adults, who are at highest risk for incident and recurrent CVD events.