. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2024 Aug 16.

Published in final edited form as: J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2022 Aug 5;166(2):543–552. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.07.028

TABLE 2.

Relative strength of risk factors

Risk factor	Type of evidence supporting risk factor	Reference
Burden of atherosclerosis	Meta-analysis	Greaves et al⁴⁶
Advancing age	Prospective cohort study	Newman et al⁷; Greaves et al⁴⁶
Lower level of education	Prospective cohort study	Newman et al⁷
Baseline cognitive impairment	Prospective cohort study	Newman et al⁷
Depression	Meta-analysis	Greaves et al⁴⁶
History of stroke	Meta-analysis	Greaves et al⁴⁶
Valve surgery	Multiple small prospective cohort studies	Ebert et al⁴⁷; Hudetz et al⁴⁸
Baseline anemia	Prospective cohort study	Gorvitovskaia et al²³; Shayan et al⁴⁹
Carotid artery stenosis	Meta-analysis	Greaves et al⁴⁶
Diabetes	Meta-analysis. Prospective cohort studies	Greaves et al⁴⁶; Puskas et al³⁰