Suzanne E. Judd

Executive summary: Heart disease and stroke statistics-2016 update: A Report from the American Heart Association

Author(s): Writing Group Members; Mozaffarian, Dariush; Benjamin, Emelia J; Go, Alan S; Arnett, Donna K; Blaha, Michael J; Cushman, Mary; Das, Sandeep R; de Ferranti, Sarah; Despres, Jean-Pierre; Fullerton, Heather J; Howard, Virginia J; Huffman, Mark D; Isasi, Carmen R; Jimenez, Monik C; Judd, Suzanne E; Kissela, Brett M; Lichtman, Judith H; Lisabeth, Lynda D; Liu, Simin; Mackey, Rachel H; Magid, David J; McGuire, Darren K; Mohler, Emile R; Moy, Claudia S; Muntner, Paul; Mussolino, Michael E; Nasir, Khurram; Neumar, Robert W; Nichol, Graham; Palaniappan, Latha; Pandey, Dilip K; Reeves, Mathew J; Rodriguez, Carlos J; Rosamond, Wayne; Sorlie, Paul D; Stein, Joel; Towfighi, Amytis; Turan, Tanya N; Virani, Salim S; Woo, Daniel; Yeh, Robert W; Turner, Melanie B; American Heart Association Statistics Committee; Stroke Statistics Subcommittee

Physical Activity Frequency and Risk of Incident Stroke in a National US Study of Blacks and Whites

Background and Purpose— Regular physical activity (PA) is an important recommendation for stroke prevention. We compared the associations of self-reported PA with incident stroke in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Methods— REGARDS recruited 30 239 US blacks (42%) and whites, aged ≥45 years with follow-up every 6 months for stroke events. Excluding those with prior stroke, analysis involved 27 348 participants who reported their frequency of moderate to vigorous intensity PA at baseline according to 3 categories: none (physical inactivity), 1 to 3×, and ≥4× per week. Stroke and transient ischemic attack cases were identified during an average of 5.7 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to examine whether self-reported PA was associated with risk of incident stroke. Results— Physical inactivity was reported by 33% of participants and was associated with a hazard ratio of 1.20 (95% confidence intervals, 1.02–1.42; P=0.035). Adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic factors did not affect hazard ratio, but further adjustment for traditional stroke risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, body mass index, alcohol use, and smoking) partially attenuated this risk (hazard ratio, 1.14 [0.95–1.37]; P=0.17). There was no significant association between PA frequency and risk of stroke by sex groups, although there was a trend toward increased risk for men reporting PA 0 to 3× a week compared with ≥4× a week. Conclusions— Self-reported low PA frequency is associated with increased risk of incident stroke. Any effect of PA is likely to be mediated through reducing traditional risk factors.

Validity of Claims-Based Stroke Algorithms in Contemporary Medicare Data Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study Linked With Medicare Claims

Background—The accuracy of stroke diagnosis in administrative claims for a contemporary population of Medicare enrollees has not been studied. We assessed the validity of diagnostic coding algorithms for identifying stroke in the Medicare population by linking data from the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study to Medicare claims. Methods and Results—The REGARDS Study enrolled 30 239 participants ≥45 years in the United States between 2003 and 2007. Stroke experts adjudicated suspected strokes, using retrieved medical records. We linked data for participants enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare to claims files from 2003 through 2009. Using adjudicated strokes as the gold standard, we calculated accuracy measures for algorithms to identify incident and recurrent strokes. We linked data for 15 089 participants, among whom 422 participants had adjudicated strokes during follow-up. An algorithm using primary discharge diagnosis codes for acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes: 430, 431, 433.x1, 434.x1, 436) had a positive predictive value of 92.6% (95% confidence interval, 88.8%–96.4%), a specificity of 99.8% (99.6%–99.9%), and a sensitivity of 59.5% (53.8%–65.1%). An algorithm using only acute ischemic stroke codes (433.x1, 434.x1, 436) had a positive predictive value of 91.1% (95% confidence interval, 86.6%–95.5%), a specificity of 99.8% (99.7%–99.9%), and a sensitivity of 58.6% (52.4%–64.7%). Conclusions—Claims-based algorithms to identify stroke in a contemporary Medicare cohort had high positive predictive value and specificity, supporting their use as outcomes for etiologic and comparative effectiveness studies in similar populations. These inpatient algorithms are unsuitable for estimating stroke incidence because of low sensitivity.

Obesity and risk of sepsis: A population‐based cohort study

Sepsis, the syndrome of microbial infection complicated by systemic inflammation, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To determine if obesity increases risk of sepsis events.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet and Prediction of Incident Stroke

Background and Purpose— There are limited data on the potential association of adherence to Mediterranean diet (MeD) with incident stroke. We sought to assess the longitudinal association between greater adherence to MeD and risk of incident stroke. Methods— We prospectively evaluated a population-based cohort of 30 239 individuals enrolled in REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, after excluding participants with stroke history, missing demographic data or food frequency questionnaires, and unavailable follow-up information. Adherence to MeD was categorized using MeD score. Incident stroke was adjudicated by expert panel review of medical records during a mean follow-up period of 6.5 years. Results— Incident stroke was identified in 565 participants (2.8%; 497 and 68 cases of ischemic stroke [IS] and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively) of 20 197 individuals fulfilling the inclusion criteria. High adherence to MeD (MeD score, 5–9) was associated with lower risk of incident IS in unadjusted analyses (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.70–1.00; P=0.046). The former association retained its significance (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.65–0.96; P=0.016) after adjustment for demographics, vascular risk factors, blood pressure levels, and antihypertensive medications. When MeD was evaluated as a continuous variable, a 1-point increase in MeD score was independently associated with a 5% reduction in the risk of incident IS (95% confidence interval, 0–11%). We documented no association of adherence to MeD with incident hemorrhagic stroke. There was no interaction of race (P=0.37) on the association of adherence to MeD with incident IS. Conclusions— High adherence to MeD seems to be associated with a lower risk of incident IS independent of potential confounders. Adherence to MeD is not related to the risk of incident hemorrhagic stroke.

Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – At-a-Glance

STRIDE (Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment) is a research and development project at Stanford University to create a standards-based informatics platform supporting clinical and translational research. STRIDE consists of three integrated components: a clinical data warehouse, based on the HL7 Reference Information Model (RIM), containing clinical information on over 1.3 million pediatric and adult patients cared for at Stanford University Medical Center since 1995; an application development framework for building research data management applications on the STRIDE platform and a biospecimen data management system. STRIDEs semantic model uses standardized terminologies, such as SNOMED, RxNorm, ICD and CPT, to represent important biomedical concepts and their relationships. The system is in daily use at Stanford and is an important component of Stanford Universitys CTSA (Clinical and Translational Science Award) Informatics Program.on behalf of the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Nathan D. Wong, Daniel Woo and Melanie B. Turner Elsayed Z. Soliman, Paul D. Sorlie, Nona Sotoodehnia, Tanya N. Turan, Salim S. Virani, Claudia S. Moy, Dariush Mozaffarian, Michael E. Mussolino, Graham Nichol, Nina P. Paynter, Lynda D. Lisabeth, Diane M. Makuc, Gregory M. Marcus, Ariane Marelli, David B. Matchar, Lichtman, Virginia J. Howard, Brett M. Kissela, Steven J. Kittner, Daniel T. Lackland, Judith H. Caroline S. Fox, Heather J. Fullerton, Cathleen Gillespie, Susan M. Hailpern, John A. Heit, Benjamin, Jarett D. Berry, William B. Borden, Dawn M. Bravata, Shifan Dai, Earl S. Ford, Writing Group Members, Véronique L. Roger, Alan S. Go, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, Emelia J. Association 2012 Update : A Report From the American Heart −− Heart Disease and Stroke StatisticsHeart Disease, Stroke and other Cardiovascular Diseases • Cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, accounting for 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030. • In 2008, cardiovascular deaths represented 30 percent of all global deaths, with 80 percent of those deaths taking place in lowand middle-income countries. • Nearly 787,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in 2011. That’s about one of every three deaths in America. • About 2,150 Americans die each day from these diseases, one every 40 seconds. • Cardiovascular diseases claim more lives than all forms of cancer combined. • About 85.6 million Americans are living with some form of cardiovascular disease or the after-effects of stroke. • Direct and indirect costs of cardiovascular diseases and stroke total more than

Haemostasis biomarkers and risk of intracerebral haemorrhage in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study

320.1 billion. That includes health expenditures and lost productivity. • Nearly half of all African-American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease, 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men. • Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the world and the leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 375,000 Americans a year. • Heart disease accounts for 1 in 7 deaths in the U.S. • Someone in the U.S. dies from heart disease about once every 90 seconds.Author(s): Mozaffarian, Dariush; Benjamin, Emelia J; Go, Alan S; Arnett, Donna K; Blaha, Michael J; Cushman, Mary; de Ferranti, Sarah; Despres, Jean-Pierre; Fullerton, Heather J; Howard, Virginia J; Huffman, Mark D; Judd, Suzanne E; Kissela, Brett M; Lackland, Daniel T; Lichtman, Judith H; Lisabeth, Lynda D; Liu, Simin; Mackey, Rachel H; Matchar, David B; McGuire, Darren K; Mohler, Emile R; Moy, Claudia S; Muntner, Paul; Mussolino, Michael E; Nasir, Khurram; Neumar, Robert W; Nichol, Graham; Palaniappan, Latha; Pandey, Dilip K; Reeves, Mathew J; Rodriguez, Carlos J; Sorlie, Paul D; Stein, Joel; Towfighi, Amytis; Turan, Tanya N; Virani, Salim S; Willey, Joshua Z; Woo, Daniel; Yeh, Robert W; Turner, Melanie B; American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee

D-dimer and the Risk of Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease: The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study

Pathologic alterations in haemostasis cause bleeding disorders, but it is unknown if variation within the normal range relates to intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) risk. It was our objective to assess the prospective associations of haemostasis biomarkers with ICH risk. The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study (REGARDS) recruited 30,239 U.u2009S. individuals aged ≥45 years. ICH was ascertained through biannual telephone contact and review of deaths followed by medical record evaluation. Haemostasis biomarkers (factor VIII (FVIII), factor IX (FIX), factor XI (FXI), fibrinogen, protein C, and D-dimer) were measured in a case cohort study consisting of ICH and a 1,104 person cohort random sample. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95u2009% confidence interval (CI) by biomarker were estimated using Cox models and adjusted for ICH risk factors. Individuals with a prior history of stroke, ICH or on warfarin were excluded. Over a median 5.8 years 66 ICH occurred. Fibrinogen, FVIII, FXI, and protein C were not associated with ICH risk in any analysis. Lower FIX increased risk of ICH with the bottom versus the top tertile of FIX associated with an HR of 5.68 (95u2009% CI 2.30, 14.05). D-dimer demonstrated a non-linear relationship with a potential threshold effect with increased risk only in the top 5th percentile (HR 3.22; 95u2009% CI 1.01, 10.31; pnon-linear = 0.04).In conclusion, low FIX levels within the normal range were associated with increased ICH risk. These data suggest non-pathologic alterations in haemostasis impact intracranial bleeding risk.

Incidence and Case Fatality at the County Level as Contributors to Geographic Disparities in Stroke Mortality

D-dimer, a biomarker of coagulation, is higher in blacks than in whites and has been associated with stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). It was our objective to assess the association of higher D-dimer with stroke and CHD in blacks and whites. REGARDS recruited 30,239 black and white participants across the contiguous US and measured baseline D-dimer in stroke (n=646) and CHD (n=654) cases and a cohort random sample (n=1,104). Cox models adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors determined the hazard ratio (HR) for increasing D-dimer for cardiovascular disease with bootstrapping to assess the difference in HR for CHD versus stroke by race. D-dimer was higher with increasing age, female sex, diabetes, hypertension, pre-baseline cardiovascular disease and higher C-reactive protein (CRP). Accounting for cardiovascular risk factors, each doubling of D-dimer was associated with increased stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 1.15; 95u2009% confidence interval [CI] 1.01, 1.31) and CHD (HR 1.27; 95u2009% CI 1.11, 1.45) risk. The difference in the HR between CHD and stroke was 0.20 (95u2009% CI >0.00, 0.58) for blacks and 0.02 (95u2009% CI -0.30, 0.27) for whites. CRP mediated 22u2009% (95u2009% CI 5u2009%, 41u2009%) of the association between D-dimer and CHD and none of the association with stroke. Higher D-dimer increased the risk of stroke and CHD independent of cardiovascular risk factors and CRP, with perhaps a stronger association for CHD versus stroke in blacks than whites. These findings highlight potential different pathophysiology of vascular disease by disease site and race suggesting potential further studies targeting haemostasis in primary prevention of vascular disease.

Abstract T P136: Potential Contributors to the Declining Impact of Stroke Risk Factors with Age: Implications for Stroke Epidemiology in the Elderly

Background: Is the high stroke mortality in the Southeastern parts of the United States driven by differences in stroke incidence or case-fatality? This question remains unanswered. Differences in incidence would underscore the need for stroke prevention, while differences in case fatality would call for improved stroke care. Methods: Quartiles of US counties were defined by stroke mortality, and this gradient was related with stroke incidence and stroke case fatality in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study, where 1,317 incident stroke events (of which 242 were fatal) occurred among 29,650 participants. Results: There was a significant (p = 0.0025) gradient of fatal stroke events in REGARDS (quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 (Q4/Q1) hazard ratio 1.95, 95% CI 1.35-2.81), demonstrating the consistency of REGARDS with national mortality data. The gradient for incident stroke (fatal + nonfatal) was also significant (p = 0.0023; Q4/Q1 hazard ratio 1.29, 95% CI 1.10-1.52). The gradient for stroke case-fatality was marginally significant (p = 0.058), though the OR for Q4/Q1 (1.71, 95% CI 1.13-2.25) was large. Conclusions: Both stroke incidence and case-fatality in REGARDS appear to be contributing, underscoring the need for strengthening both stroke prevention and acute stroke care in order to reduce the disparity.