Garth Graham

Relationship Between Sedentary Behavior and Cardiovascular Risk.

The majority of adults do not meet current guideline recommendations for moderate to vigorous physical activity. Recent research has linked a high amount of sedentary behavior with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and death. This correlation with sedentary behavior even extends to individuals who meet recommended physical activity goals during the remainder of their day, which implies that sedentary behavior may represent a distinct cardiovascular risk factor that is independent of the overall amount of physical activity. During the past several years, there has been significant interest in identifying and understanding the mechanisms through which sedentary behavior affects cardiovascular health. In this review, we critically evaluate the literature pertaining to sedentary behavior and cardiovascular risk with an emphasis on studies published over the past year, and we suggest possible interventions that may help reduce sedentary behavior time.

Defining a Mobile Health Roadmap for Cardiovascular Health and Disease

Mobile telecommunication technologies have spurred growth and innovation in multiple sectors including commerce, media, and finance. Arguably, health care is the sector in which the potential of these new technologies is both the greatest and the most unrecognized. With the rapid adoption of

The Role of mHealth for Improving Medication Adherence in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and a key barrier to improved outcomes is medication non-adherence. The aim of this study is to review the role of mobile health (mHealth) tools for improving medication adherence in patients with cardiovascular disease. We performed a systematic search for randomized controlled trials that primarily investigated mHealth tools for improving adherence to cardiovascular disease medications in patients with hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, and stroke. We extracted and reviewed data on the types of mHealth tools used, preferences of patients and healthcare providers, the effect of the mHealth interventions on medication adherence, and the limitations of trials. We identified 10 completed trials matching our selection criteria, mostly with <100 participants, and ranging in duration from 1 to 18 months. mHealth tools included text messages, Bluetooth-enabled electronic pill boxes, online messaging platforms, and interactive voice calls. Patients and healthcare providers generally preferred mHealth to other interventions. All 10 studies reported that mHealth interventions improved medication adherence, though the magnitude of benefit was not consistently large and in one study was not greater than a telehealth comparator. Limitations of trials included small sample sizes, short duration of follow-up, self-reported outcomes, and insufficient assessment of unintended harms and financial implications. Current evidence suggests that mHealth tools can improve medication adherence in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, high-quality clinical trials of sufficient size and duration are needed to move the field forward and justify use in routine care.

Association of Smoking Status With Health-Related Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background—Patients who smoke at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) would ideally have a strong incentive to quit, but most do not. We sought to compare the health status outcomes of those who did and did not quit smoking after PCI with those who were not smoking before PCI. Methods and Results—A cohort of 2765 PCI patients from 10 US centers were categorized into never, past (smoked in the past but had quit before PCI), quitters (smoked at time of PCI but then quit), and persistent smokers. Health status was measured with the disease-specific Seattle Angina Questionnaire and the EuroQol 5 dimensions, adjusted for baseline characteristics. In unadjusted analyses, persistent smokers had worse disease-specific and overall health status when compared with other groups. In fully adjusted analyses, persistent smokers showed significantly worse health-related quality of life when compared with never smokers. Importantly, of those who smoked at the time of PCI, quitters had significantly better adjusted Seattle Angina Questionnaire angina frequency scores (mean difference, 2.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.13–5.33) and trends toward higher disease specific (Seattle Angina Questionnaire quality of life mean difference, 1.97; 95% confidence interval, −1.24 to 5.18), and overall (EuroQol 5 dimension visual analog scale scores mean difference, 2.45; 95% confidence interval, −0.58 to 5.49) quality of life when compared with persistent smokers at 12 months. Conclusions—Smokers at the time of PCI have worse health status at 1 year than those who never smoked, whereas smokers who quit after PCI have less angina at 1 year than those who continue smoking.

An Update on the Utility of Coronary Artery Calcium Scoring for Coronary Heart Disease and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Prediction

Estimating cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is necessary for determining the potential net benefit of primary prevention pharmacotherapy. Risk estimation relying exclusively on traditional CVD risk factors may misclassify risk, resulting in both undertreatment and overtreatment. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring personalizes risk prediction through direct visualization of calcified coronary atherosclerotic plaques and provides improved accuracy for coronary heart disease (CHD) or CVD risk estimation. In this review, we discuss the most recent studies on CAC, which unlike historical studies, focus sharply on clinical application. We describe the MESA CHD risk calculator, a recently developed CAC-based 10-year CHD risk estimator, which can help guide preventive therapy allocation by better identifying both high- and low-risk individuals. In closing, we discuss calcium density, regional distribution of CAC, and extra-coronary calcification, which represent the future of CAC and CVD risk assessment research and may lead to further improvements in risk prediction.

2017 Roadmap for Innovation—ACC Health Policy Statement on Healthcare Transformation in the Era of Digital Health, Big Data, and Precision Health: A Report of the American College of Cardiology Task Force on Health Policy Statements and Systems of Care

Dharam J. Kumbhani, MD, SM, FACC, Chair Cathleen Biga, MSN, RN, FACC Thomas J. Lewandowski, MD, FACC Thomas M. Maddox, MD, MSc, FACC James K. Min, MD, FACC Michael J. Wolk, MD, MACC Healthcare transformation is the product of a shared vision between a broad range of stakeholders to

Variation in patient–provider communication by patient’s race and ethnicity, provider type, and continuity in and site of care: An analysis of data from the Connecticut Health Care Survey

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the quality of patient-reported communication with their health care providers using data from a large, statewide survey of patients. We examine the relationship between patient’s race and ethnicity, type of health care provider, site of and continuity in care, and the quality of patient–provider communication. Methods: We analyze data from the Connecticut Health Care Survey, a representative telephone survey of 4608 Connecticut residents conducted between June 2012 and February 2013. Eight measures of patient–provider communication were analyzed using weighted general linear and logistic regression models. Results: Patients’ assessments of the quality of communication with their health care providers were generally positive. Hispanic patients, those who received care in a clinic or hospital setting, and those who did not consistently see the same provider reported significantly poorer communication with their providers. Conclusion: Our data suggest that improving patient–provider communication for Hispanic patients may be a critical step in achieving health equity. However, increased access to health care delivered outside of physician offices where there may not be consistency in providers across encounters may pose challenges to effective health communication.

Population Health and Technology: Placing People First

The authors reflect on population health and technology. They suggest that a rising interest in the use of technology in health offers a great opportunity for finding innovative ways to improve public health. They argue that focusing on people and engaging the public are both critical to achieving a strategy for using technology to improve public health.

Clinician Innovator: A Novel Career Path in Academic Medicine A Presidentially Commissioned Article From the American Heart Association.

The practice of medicine is transforming substantially and a pivotal driver of this change has been the accelerating pace of technology innovation. Traditional healthcare innovation has focused on the development of new diagnostics, drugs, and devices for use in hospitals and clinics, with more

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Preventable Hospitalizations for Chronic Disease: Prevalence and Risk Factors

BackgroundHospitalizations due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) result in high morbidity and economic burden on the American healthcare system. Admissions due to chronic ACSCs, in particular, cost the American healthcare system over 30 billion dollars annually.Objectives and MethodsThis paper presents the current research on racial and ethnic disparities in the burden of hospitalizations due to chronic ACSCs. For this narrative review, we evaluated over 800 abstracts from MEDLINE and Google Scholar and cited 62 articles.ResultsSince 1998, racial and ethnic disparities in hospitalizations from chronic ACSCs have increased resulting in over 430,000 excess hospitalizations among non-Hispanic Blacks compared to non-Hispanic Whites.ConclusionsRacial disparities in chronic ACSCs hospitalizations are pervasive in the USA. There is need for more research on the pathways through which an individual’s race modifies the risk for hospitalizations due to chronic ACSCs.