RESEARCH ARTICLE The Impact of Health Behaviours on Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Europeans and South Asians – A Prospective Analysis in the UK SABRE Study

Background There is consistent evidence on the impact of health behaviours on risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in European populations. As South Asians in the UK have an excess risk of CVD and coronary heart disease (CHD) compared to Europeans, we investigated whether a similar association between combined health behaviours and risk of CVD and CHD among this high-risk group exists, and estimated the population impact. Methods and Findings In a prospective cohort of 1090 Europeans and 1006 South Asians (40–69 y) without preva-lent CVD at baseline (1988–1990), followed up for 21 years to 2011, there were 601 incident CVD events [Europeans n = 255; South Asians n = 346] of which 520 were CHD events [n = 207 and 313 respectively]. Participants scored between 0 to 4 points for a composite score including four baseline healthy behaviours (non-smoker, moderate alcohol intake, physical-ly active, frequent fruit/vegetable intake). Adjusted hazard ratios (95 % confidence intervals) for incident CHD in Europeans who had three, two, one, and zero compared to four healt