The association between cardiovascular health and depression: Results from the 2007–2020 NHANES

•The American Heart Association (AHA)’s newly prompted Life's Essential 8 (LE8) could assess cardiovascular health (CVH).•Inversely nonlinear association between the CVH and depression was found.•Ideal levels of CVH could benefit the risk reduction of depression.•4.Promoting CVH by LE8 is a potential preventive strategy for depression. Limited research has been conducted on the correlation between Life's Essential 8 (LE8), the recently updated algorithm for evaluating cardiovascular health (CVH), and depression. A total of 21,942 individuals were chosen from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2007 and 2020. The depression was determined using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a score of 10 or higher indicating diagnosis. The LE8 score consists of 8 metrics: sleep health, diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Each LE8 metric was scored from 0 to 100 points. The summation of all metrics divided by 8 generated the total LE8 score and was categorized into low (0–49), moderate (50–79), and high (80–100) CVH. Weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic splines (RCS) were used to assess the association between LE8 score and depression. A significant inversely nonlinear relationship was observed between LE8 score and depression. When compared to participants with high CVH, those with moderate CVH had multivariable adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for depression of 2.36 (95 % CI, 1.79–3.10), while those with low CVH had ORs of 4.71 (95 % CI, 3.44–6.47). Moreover, the effect size of the LE8 score on depression remained stable in all pre-specified subgroups, with all P-values for interaction being more than 0.05. The results indicate a significant inversely nonlinear relationship between LE8 score and depression, particularly among males. These findings emphasize the importance of maintaining higher CVH as a preventive measure against depression.