Lifestyle risk score and mortality in Korean adults: a population-based cohort study

Individual lifestyle risk factors have been associated with an increased risk of mortality. However, limited evidence is available on the combined association of lifestyle risk factors with mortality in non-Western populations. The analysis included 37,472 participants (aged ≥19 years) in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2007–2014) for whom the data were linked to death certificates/medical records through December 2016. A lifestyle risk score was created using five unhealthy behaviors: current smoking, high-risk alcohol drinking, unhealthy weight, physical inactivity, and insufficient/prolonged sleep. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). During up to 9 years of follow-up, we documented 1,057 total deaths. Compared to individuals with zero lifestyle risk factor, those with 4–5 lifestyle risk factors had 2.01 times (HR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.43–2.82) and 2.59 times (HR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.24–5.40) higher risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. However, higher lifestyle risk score was not significantly associated with cancer mortality (p-trend >0.05). In stratified analyses, the positive associations tended to be stronger in adults aged <65 years, unemployed, and those with lower levels of education. In conclusion, combined unhealthy lifestyle behaviors were associated with substantially increased risk of total and cardiovascular mortality in Korean adults.