Residential greenness and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk in a rural Chinese adult population

Residential greenness may be beneficial for cardiovascular health, but the evidence is still scarce, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the associations between exposure to residential greenness and 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk in a large rural Chinese adult population. This was a cross-sectional study based on 31,162 participants aged 35–74 years with complete data on predictors of the 10-year ASCVD risk from the Henan Rural Cohort Study. The satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) were used to quantify residential greenness in a buffer radius of 500 m, 1000 m, and 3000 m. The high 10-years ASCVD risk was defined as the estimated risk ≥10% based on prediction equations from the China-PAR Project for Chinese populations. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were performed to estimate the associations of greenness exposures with high 10-year ASCVD risk, and mediation analyses were employed to the potential mediators. For per interquartile range (IQR) increase in NDVI 500−m, NDVI 1000−m, NDVI 3000−m, EVI 500−m, EVI 1000−m, and EVI 3000−m, the adjusted OR (95% CI ) of high 10-years ASCVD risk was 0.828 (0.793–0.866), 0.850 (0.817–0.885), 0.823 (0.792–0.855), 0.848 (0.809–0.889), 0.863 (0.826–0.901), 0.843 (0.805–0.883), respectively. Strong associations of NDVI 500−m and EVI 500−m with high 10-years ASCVD risk were found among participants with lower education level and lower averaged monthly income. The associations of greenness exposures with high 10-year ASCVD risk were partially explained by particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤1 µm, BMI, and physical activity. Enhancing residential greenness exposure may be beneficial for reducing the high 10-year ASCVD risk in rural Chinese adults.