Index of cardiometabolic health: a new method of measuring allostatic load using electronic health records

Abstract

Objective: We developed a measure of allostatic load from electronic medical records (EMRs), which we named “Index of Cardiometabolic Health” (ICMH).

Methods: Data were collected from participants’ EMRs and a written survey in 2005. We computed allostatic load scores using the ICMH score and two previously described approaches.

Results: We included 1865 employed adults who were 25–59 years old. Although the magnitude of the association was small, all methods of were predictive of SF-12 physical component subscales (all p < 0.001).

Conclusion: We found that the ICMH had similar relationships with health-related quality of life as previously reported in the literature.

Keywords:

• Cardiovascular disease
• obesity/diabetes
• renal disease

Disclosure statement

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest with respect to this study to report. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Funding information

Funds to conduct this study were obtained from several sources. Analyses were primarily funded through an NIDDK grant (1R21DK081887, DW Roblin, PI). Data collection was funded through this NIDDK grant and a CDC grant (1R01CD000033, ER Becker, PI). Research reported in this publication was also supported by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P60MD006912. Support for Ms. Nobel was obtained from NHLBI grant numbers 1T32HL120823-01 as a trainee on a T32 grant and as a F30 fellow from F30 HL 128012.