{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T05:32:16Z","timestamp":1793079136685,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787616000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787616000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency","award":["RS-2026-25549947"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2026-25549947"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00qj2j544","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["RS-2026-25549947"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2026-25549947"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00qj2j544","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency","award":["RS-2024-00462006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2024-00462006"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01wpjm123","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["RS-2024-00462006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2024-00462006"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04jgeq066","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Mitigation of systemic inflammation may support the achievement of healthy lives and well-being. The American Heart Association recently proposed \u201cLife\u2019s Essential 8\u201d (LE8) lifestyle metric for evaluating cardiovascular health (CVH) status; however, most existing studies have been limited to populations in the United States. This study examined the association between the LE8 score and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in Korean adults. Methods: A nationwide sample of 18,500 adults was analyzed. The LE8 score was calculated based on four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking, and sleep health) and four biometric health factors (body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure). The LE8 scores were categorized into three groups: 80\u2013100 (ideal CVH), 50\u201379 (intermediate CVH), and 0\u201349 (poor CVH). The hs-CRP levels were classified as &lt;3 mg\/L or \u22653 mg\/L. Logistic regression models were used for the analysis. Results: Among the participants, 21.9%, 67.3%, and 10.9% had ideal, intermediate, and poor CVH, respectively. In the logistic regression models, the adjusted OR (95% CI) for the association between LE8 categories and hs-CRP \u2265 3 mg\/L was 1.94 (1.56\u20132.40) for the intermediate group and 3.21 (2.41\u20134.28) for the poor group, respectively, compared with the ideal group. Conclusions: Poor CVH status assessed by the LE8 lifestyle health metric was associated with high hs-CRP levels. The study findings suggest that future longitudinal studies are required to establish the temporal relationship between the LE8 and hs-CRP.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16091405","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T10:04:55Z","timestamp":1787652295000},"page":"1405","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Relationship Between the \u201cLife\u2019s Essential 8\u201d Lifestyle Metrics and Serum High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Levels in South Korea"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Seong-Uk","family":"Baek","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Jin-Ha","family":"Yoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Innovation in Digital Healthcare, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"The Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.4070\/kcj.2021.0097","article-title":"Korea Heart Disease Fact Sheet 2020: Analysis of Nationwide Data","volume":"51","author":"Lee","year":"2021","journal-title":"Korean Circ. J."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"e18","article-title":"Life\u2019s Essential 8: Updating and Enhancing the American Heart Association\u2019s Construct of Cardiovascular Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association","volume":"146","author":"Allen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e030764","DOI":"10.1161\/JAHA.123.030764","article-title":"Association of Life\u2019s Essential 8 with Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality: The Framingham Heart Study","volume":"12","author":"Rempakos","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Am. Heart Assoc."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1093\/eurjpc\/zwae280","article-title":"Life\u2019s Essential 8 and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"32","author":"Sebastian","year":"2024","journal-title":"Eur. J. Prev. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1134","DOI":"10.1016\/j.numecd.2023.01.021","article-title":"Association of Life\u2019s Essential 8 with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among US adults: A prospective cohort study from the NHANES 2005\u20132014","volume":"33","author":"Yi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nutr. Metab. Cardiovasc Dis."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1238","DOI":"10.1253\/circj.CJ-24-0922","article-title":"Life\u2019s Essential 8 and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Korean Adults","volume":"89","author":"Han","year":"2025","journal-title":"Circ. J."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"e30225","article-title":"Role of High-Sensitivity C-reactive Protein (Hs-CRP) in Non-communicable Diseases: A Review","volume":"14","author":"Banait","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"836","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM200003233421202","article-title":"C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation in the prediction of cardiovascular disease in women","volume":"342","author":"Ridker","year":"2000","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"1","article-title":"C-reactive protein and cardiovascular disease: A review of risk prediction and interventions","volume":"317","author":"Rifai","year":"2002","journal-title":"Clin. Chim. Acta"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e543\u2013544","DOI":"10.1161\/01.CIR.0000148979.11121.6B","article-title":"CDC\/AHA Workshop on Markers of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease: Application to Clinical and Public Health Practice: Overview","volume":"110","author":"Pearson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112590","DOI":"10.1016\/j.exger.2024.112590","article-title":"Association between C-reactive protein, Life\u2019s Essential 8, and mortality in American adults: Insights from NHANES 2005\u20132010 data analysis","volume":"196","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"Exp. Gerontol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e24270","DOI":"10.1002\/clc.24270","article-title":"Association between Life\u2019s Essential 8 score and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: A cross-sectional study from NHANES 2015\u20132018","volume":"47","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"Clin. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15024","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-024-65977-3","article-title":"Life\u2019s Essential 8 is inversely associated with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein","volume":"14","author":"Hebib","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Choi, R., Chun, G., Lee, S.G., and Cho, S.-E. (2026). Impact of High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Cutoff Selection on Cardiovascular Risk Classification Beyond Lipid Measurements in Korean Adults: A KNHANES 2024 Study. Metabolites, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo16080531"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e46484","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000046484","article-title":"Cross-national comparison of metabolic syndrome prevalence and related medication use in South Korea and the United States, 2007\u20132020: Evidence from KHANES and NHANES","volume":"104","author":"Joo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Medicine"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pcad.2025.02.001","article-title":"The culture of healthy living\u2014The international perspective","volume":"90","author":"Jayasinghe","year":"2025","journal-title":"Prog. Cardiovasc Dis."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyt228","article-title":"Data resource profile: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)","volume":"43","author":"Kweon","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1689","DOI":"10.1017\/S1368980013002115","article-title":"Designing and developing a literature-derived, population-based dietary inflammatory index","volume":"17","author":"Shivappa","year":"2014","journal-title":"Public Health Nutr."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1177\/1757975919854301","article-title":"Development of the Korean Global Physical Activity Questionnaire: Reliability and validity study","volume":"27","author":"Lee","year":"2020","journal-title":"Glob. Health Promot."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e81\u201385","DOI":"10.1161\/01.CIR.0000093381.57779.67","article-title":"C-reactive protein: A simple test to help predict risk of heart attack and stroke","volume":"108","author":"Ridker","year":"2003","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"30","article-title":"Multiple imputation with multivariate imputation by chained equation (MICE) package","volume":"4","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann. Transl. Med."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Huang, S.S., Yu, X.S., Lin, T., Xie, Z.Y., Mao, H.Y., and Yang, Z.X. (2025). Associations between Life\u2019s Essential 8 scores and systemic immune-inflammation index among American-adult populations without cardiovascular disease. Front. Med., 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1588835"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2024.01.200","article-title":"Comparison of the associations between Life\u2019s Essential 8 and Life\u2019s Simple 7 with depression, as well as the mediating role of oxidative stress factors and inflammation: NHANES 2005\u20132018","volume":"351","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Affect Disord."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.3164\/jcbn.17-22","article-title":"Dietary inflammatory index and its relationship with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in Korean: Data from the health examinee cohort","volume":"62","author":"Na","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Clin. Biochem Nutr."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1226","DOI":"10.1016\/j.numecd.2023.12.021","article-title":"A cross-sectional study of the relationship between physical activity, diet quality, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in US adults","volume":"34","author":"Xu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutr. Metab. Cardiovasc Dis."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Christofaro, D.G.D., Ritti-Dias, R.M., Tebar, W.R., Werneck, A.O., Bittencourt, M.S., Cucato, G.G., and Santos, R.D. (2023). Are C-reactive protein concentrations affected by smoking status and physical activity levels? A longitudinal study. PLoS ONE, 18.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0293453"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"743","DOI":"10.5664\/jcsm.3862","article-title":"Short duration of sleep is associated with elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level in Taiwanese adults: A cross-sectional study","volume":"10","author":"Chiang","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Clin. Sleep Med."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Husain, S., Hillmann, K., Hengst, K., and Englert, H. (2023). Effects of a lifestyle intervention on the biomarkers of oxidative stress in non-communicable diseases: A systematic review. Front. Aging, 4.","DOI":"10.3389\/fragi.2023.1085511"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1381","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2025.08.047","article-title":"Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease: 2025 ACC Scientific Statement: A Report of the American College of Cardiology","volume":"87","author":"Mensah","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Am. Coll. Cardiol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shih, Y.L., Lin, Y., and Chen, J.Y. (2022). The Association between High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Metabolic Syndrome in an Elderly Population Aged 50 and Older in a Community Receiving Primary Health Care in Taiwan. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph192013111"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Koziarska-Rosciszewska, M., Gluba-Brzozka, A., Franczyk, B., and Rysz, J. (2021). High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Relationship with Metabolic Disorders and Cardiovascular Diseases Risk Factors. Life, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/life11080742"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"736","DOI":"10.4070\/kcj.2024.0411","article-title":"Korean Cardiovascular Health Status Assessed by Life\u2019s Essential 8 in Korean Adult Population: Based on Data From the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014\u20132021","volume":"55","author":"Choi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Korean Circ. J."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"757","DOI":"10.4070\/kcj.2025.0360","article-title":"Twenty-Year Clinical Experience of the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry","volume":"55","author":"Sim","year":"2025","journal-title":"Korean Circ. J."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"753","DOI":"10.4070\/kcj.2025.0152","article-title":"Suboptimal Cardiovascular Health in Korea: Insights From the First Application of Life\u2019s Essential 8","volume":"55","author":"Kim","year":"2025","journal-title":"Korean Circ. J."}],"container-title":["Life"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-1729\/16\/9\/1405\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T04:33:57Z","timestamp":1793075637000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-1729\/16\/9\/1405"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["life16091405"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/life16091405","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-1729"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-1729","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]}}}