Family size and cardiovascular disease incidence: a population-level association study

Aim:
To investigate the population-level association between family size and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence, focusing on broad patterns rather than causal mechanisms or individual-level effects.

Methods:
Population level correlations of family size to CVD incidence were analyzed with scatter plots, simple regression, partial correlation and multivariate regression separately. Aging, economic affluence, obesity and urbanization were incorporated in models as potential confounders.

Results:
Globally, family size negatively correlated to CVD incidence rate. This relationship remained in partial correlation analyses when controlling for confounders. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that family size may be the most significant predictor of CVD incidence.

Conclusions:
Large family size is significantly associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence, potentially due to biological, psychological, and social factors. However, as the data are cross-sectional, this relationship should be interpreted as correlational rather than causal. The association appears more pronounced in developing countries, where contextual factors may amplify its effects.