Life's Essential 8 in people with euthyroidism and in subclinical hypothyroidism: results of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

• Grant number: 23/16565-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Epidemiology
• Principal Investigator: Isabela Judith Martins Bensenor
• Grantee: Adriana de Souza Stelati
• Host Institution: Hospital Universitário (HU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

There is evidence that subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with poor cardiovascular health, but further knowledge regarding thyroid disease in the Brazilian population, which has particularities compared to high-income countries, is still needed. Using data from the prospective cohort ELSA-Brasil, the primary objective of the study is to compare the cardiovascular health profile of euthyroid participants with those with subclinical hypothyroidism. Individuals' health behaviors will be defined according to the Life's Essential 8 (LE8), proposed in 2022 by the American Heart Association. Eight factors have been defined as part of the LE8 metric: presence of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, dyslipidemia, body mass index, physical activity, healthy diet, and sleep health. Individuals will be classified as having low, moderate, or high cardiovascular health, following LE8 recommendations, and sociodemographic and clinical variables will be compared among these three groups. The secondary objective is to evaluate factors that exhibit unhealthy behavior in participants according to sociodemographic variables such as sex, age, race, education, and income. Considering the humanitarian and economic burden that cardiovascular diseases impose on the world today, understanding how health behaviors present in euthyroid individuals and those with subclinical hypothyroidism contributes to primary prevention efforts, aiming to reduce the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors before they are established.