Define CHI dimensions

In our review of the prevention and treatment of CVD literature, there was no paper providing a comprehensive index of cardiovascular health, which suggests that constructing a China-based CHI is innovative. While we discovered no comprehensive CVD indices as a reference point, pointers were provided by documents issued by American Heart Association (AHA), the NCD Global Monitoring Framework published by the WHO, which included indices that evaluated the CVD burden, CVD monitoring and prevention, the control of CVD risks and CVD treatments. When constructing the CHI, we took these indices as frames of reference, following the idea of “prevention first, and prevention and treatment integrated” from the AHA, ACC and WHO [9–11]. We also referenced Chinese health policies, such as Healthy China 2030, which proposed that CHI development should include an evaluation of CVD prevalence and the proposal and implementation of targeted CVD measures. Finally we held expert discussions to define CHI dimensions.