Sex-specific risk factors for new-onset heart failure: the PREVEND study at 25 years

Current estimates for the lifetime risk to develop heart failure with either a reduced (HFrEF) or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and their associated risk factors are derived from two studies from the USA. The sex-specific lifetime risk and population attributable fraction of potentially modifiable risk factors for incident HFpEF and HFrEF are described in a large European community-based cohort with 25 years of follow-up.

A total of 8558 participants from the PREVEND cohort were studied at baseline from 1997 onwards and followed until 2022 for cases of new-onset HFrEF (ejection fraction < 50%) and HFpEF (ejection fraction ≥ 50%) by assessment of hospital records.

A total of 804 cases of new-onset HF were identified (534 HFrEF and 270 HFpEF) during 25 years of follow-up. The mean age at baseline was 50 years for men and 47 years for women. The mean age at onset of HF was 72.1 years in men and 74.2 years in women. The overall lifetime risk of developing HF was 24.5% in men compared to 23.3% in women. The lifetime risk of HFrEF was lower in women compared with men (11.9% vs. 18.1%), while the lifetime risk of HFpEF was higher in women compared with men (11.5% vs. 6.4%). In women, 71% of incident HFrEF cases were attributable to eight risk factors (hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, obesity, smoking, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, myocardial infarction, and diabetes mellitus) and 60% in men. In women, 64% of incident HFpEF cases were attributable to those risk factors, whereas this was 46% in men. More specifically, in both men and women, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia were the strongest risk factors for HFrEF, whereas hypertension and obesity were the strongest risk factors for HFpEF.

In this European cohort, the lifetime risk of developing HFrEF was greater in men than in women, while women were at greater risk of developing HFpEF. Eight directly and indirectly modifiable risk factors substantially accounted for the risk of developing HFrEF and HFpEF, particularly in women.