LAUSR

Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome, a term coined by the American Heart Association, emphasizes the interconnectedness of these diseases and the need for multidisciplinary prevention and treatment approaches. This study aimed to investigate the long-term trends in the prevalence of CKM syndrome in the South Korean population. We used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), including Korean adults from 2007 to 2022, drawn from a representative longitudinal cohort. The CKM syndrome stages were defined as: stage 0 (no CKM health risk factors), stage 1 (excess adiposity or prediabetes), stage 2 (metabolic risk factors or chronic kidney disease), stage 3 (very high risk of chronic kidney disease or a highly predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk), and stage 4 (diagnosed cardiovascular disease, with or without kidney failure). Trend analysis for each stage was assessed using linear regression. Additionally, the prevalence of CKM stages was compared among subgroups by age, sex, residential area, education level, household income, smoking, drinking, and physical activity. A total of 79,391 adults from 2007 to 2022 were analyzed. The prevalence was 18.97% for stage 0, 28.19% for stage 1, 44.66% for stage 2, and 8.19% for stages 3 and 4. The prevalence of each stage showed an upward trend over time (P for trend <0.05 for each stage). In the interaction analysis, CKM stage 2 showed a statistically significant increase over time compared to the other stages (P for interaction <0.05). Adults over the age of 65 tended to show increases in advanced stages and decreases in stages 0–2. Populations with higher household income were more likely to have stages 0–2, while the prevalence of stages 3 and 4 decreased in this group. This study is the first large-scale investigation into the longitudinal prevalence of CKM syndrome from 2007 to 2022. Further research is needed to fully understand the changes in prevalence and temporal trends and to incorporate these findings into national healthcare policies.