scholarly journals Persistence of socioeconomic inequalities in the knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors five years after coronary angiography

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastase Tchicaya ◽  
Nathalie Lorentz ◽  
Stefaan Demarest ◽  
Jean Beissel

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are important causes of death, morbidity, and years of potential life lost in most developed countries. Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess trends in knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors among patients five years after coronary angiography and to investigate the impact of educational level on knowledge level. Methods: The study included 1289 of 4391 patients admitted for cardiac events in 2008/2009 at the National Institute for Cardiac Surgery and Interventional Cardiology, Luxembourg. A follow-up study was conducted by post five years later (2013/2014). Data were obtained from 1837 of the contacted patients (with 548 reported deaths) (response rate=42%). Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between educational level and knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors. Educational level was used as a surrogate for socioeconomic status. Results: In total, 39.9% of patients could list at least three risk factors in 2013/2014, a much higher percentage than the 8.5% observed during the initial survey. In both sexes, knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors increased between 2008/2009 and 2013/2014. Patients with higher educational levels were more likely (odds ratio=2.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.63–3.34) to cite at least three risk factors than patients with lower education levels. Conclusion: Knowledge level was associated with educational level, and improved for all educational groups five years after coronary angiography. Educational differences in knowledge persisted, but the gaps decreased. Improving knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors among patients with cardiovascular disease will help increase awareness and promote lifestyle changes.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigorios Tsigkas ◽  
Eleni-Evangelia Koufou ◽  
Konstantinos Katsanos ◽  
Panagiotis Patrinos ◽  
Athanasios Moulias ◽  
...  

Aims: To evaluate the impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle changes of the general population, and on admissions for acute coronary syndrome (ACS).Methods and Results: All ACS admissions during the COVID-19 lockdown (10 March to 4 May, 2020), in 3 municipalities (3 spoke, and 1 hub hospital), in Southwestern Greece (411,576 inhabitants), were prospectively recorded and compared to the equivalent periods during 2018, and 2019. A telephone survey of 1014 participants was conducted to explore the lifestyle habits of citizens aged ≥35-years-old before and during lockdown. The median ACS incidence rate decreased from 19.0 cases per week in 2018 and 21.5 in 2019 down to 13.0 in 2020 (RR: 0.66 during the Covid-19 lockdown; 95%CI: 0.53–0.82; P = 0.0002). This was driven by a significant reduction of admissions for Non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) (RR: 0.68; 95%CI: 0.52–0.88; P = 0.0037), mainly in patients with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors, as we noticed an inverse association between the reduction of the incidence of ACS during the Covid-19 lockdown period and the number of registered patient risk factors. There was no difference in the rates of STEMI and population-based all-cause mortality across the examined time periods. The telephone survey demonstrated reduction of passive smoking, working hours, alcohol, junk food and salt consumption, and an increase in sleeping hours, mainly in participants with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors.Conclusions: A significant decline in ACS admissions during the COVID-19 lockdown was noted, affecting mainly NSTEMI patients with a lower burden of cardiovascular risk factors. This was accompanied by significant lifestyle changes. Thus, it is tempting to speculate that to some extend the latter might be associated with the observed decline in ACS admissions.


Circulation ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 125 (suppl_10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany M Powell ◽  
Colby R Ayers ◽  
James A de Lemos ◽  
Amit Khera ◽  
Susan G Lakoski ◽  
...  

Background: Concerning trends in weight gain from 2000-2009 exist in the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a probability-based sample of Dallas County residents aged 30-65. However, the impact of significant weight gain (≥ 5% increase in body weight) on cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in this contemporary, multi-ethnic population is not known. Methods: We measured weight, LDL-c, blood pressure (SBP and DBP), and fasting glucose (FG) in 2,022 DHS participants (58% female) at study entry in 2000 and in 2009. Using logistic regression stratified by sex and race/ethnicity, we determined the age-adjusted odds of worsening CVRF (any increase in LDL-c, SBP, DBP or FG) for people who gained significant weight compared to those who did not. Results: Among women, 43% (N=500) gained significant weight, compared to 42% of men (N=355). Despite similar average weight gain (9.7±5.8 kg for women vs. 10±5.6 kg for men, p=0.4), women who gained significant weight had almost twice as large an increase in LDL-c (14±34 vs. 8±39 mg/dl, p=0.01) and SBP (12±18 vs. 6±19 mmHg, p<0.001) compared with men who gained significant weight. Increases in DBP (5±10 vs. 4±11 mmHg, p=0.05) and FG (4±29 vs. 2±32 mg/dl, p=0.30) were not significantly different between men and women. Among those with significant weight gain who were not on medications, SBP and LDL-c increases were higher in women compared with men (p<0.05). Differences in the amount of weight gained stratified by race and sex were modest (Table). Black women who gained significant weight were likely to have a worsening of all CVRF, while Hispanic women had the highest likelihood of having an increase in SBP associated with weight gain. In contrast, significant weight gain among men was not associated with worsening CVRF. Conclusions: Significant weight gain was associated with a deleterious impact on CVRF among women but not men. Disparate effects of weight gain between men and women highlight the importance of targeting aggressive weight control interventions toward women to help prevent adverse cardiac outcomes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (06) ◽  
pp. 1085-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Politou ◽  
Christoforos Komporozos ◽  
Demosthenes Panagiotakos ◽  
Chrisoula Belessi ◽  
Anthi Travlou ◽  
...  

SummaryThere are limited and controversial data regarding the impact of factor XIII (FXIII) Val34Leu polymorphism in the pathogenesis of premature myocardial infarction (MI). We examined whether FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism is associated with the development of early MI.We recruited 159 consecutive patients who had survived their first acute MI under the age of 36 years (mean age=32.1 ± 3.6 years, 138 were men). The control group consisted of 121 healthy individuals matched with cases for age and sex, without a family history of premature coronary heart disease (CHD). FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism was tested with polymerase chain reaction and reverse hybridization. There was a lower prevalence of carriers of the Leu34 allele in patients than in controls (30.2 vs. 47.1%, p=0.006). FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism was associated with lower risk for acute MI after adjusting for major cardiovascular risk factors (odds ratio [OR] = 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27–0.95, p=0.03). Subgroup analysis according to angiographic findings (“normal” coronary arteries [n=29] or significant CHD [n=130]) showed that only patients with MI and significant CHD had lower prevalence of carriers of the Leu34 allele compared to controls after adjusting for major cardiovascular risk factors (OR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.22–0.83, p=0.01). Our data indicate that FXIII Val34Leu polymorphism has a protective effect against the development of MI under the age of 36 years, particularly in the setting of significant CHD.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 616-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Davenport ◽  
Nadira Hamid ◽  
Eoin P. O'Sullivan ◽  
Padraig Daly ◽  
Ponnusamy Mohan ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 555-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Redondo ◽  
Joan Benach ◽  
Isaac Subirana ◽  
José Miguel Martinez ◽  
Miguel Angel Muñoz ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249923
Author(s):  
Orsolya Kiss ◽  
Mate Babity ◽  
Attila Kovacs ◽  
Judit Skopal ◽  
Hajnalka Vago ◽  
...  

The significance of cardiology screening of referees is not well established. Cardiovascular risk factors and diseases were examined in asymptomatic Hungarian elite handball referees undergoing extended screening: personal/family history, physical examination, 12-lead ECG, laboratory tests, body-composition analysis, echocardiography, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Holter-ECG (n = 8), blood pressure monitorization (n = 10), cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR; n = 27) and computer tomography (CCT; n = 4) were also carried out if needed. We examined 100 referees (age: 29.6±7.9years, male: 64, training: 4.3±2.0 hours/week), cardiovascular risk factors were: positive medical history: 24%, overweight: 10%, obesity: 3%, dyslipidaemia: 41%. Elevated resting blood pressure was measured in 38%. Stress-ECG was positive due to ECG-changes in 16%, due to elevated exercise blood pressure in 8%. Echocardiography and/or CMR identified abnormalities in 19%. A significant number of premature ventricular contractions was found on the Holter-ECG in two cases. The CCT showed myocardial bridge or coronary plaques in one-one case. We recommended lifestyle changes in 58%, new/modified antihypertensive or lipid-lowering therapy in 5%, iron-supplementation in 22%. By our results, a high percentage of elite Hungarian handball referees had cardiovascular risk factors or diseases, which, combined with physical and psychological stress, could increase the possibility of cardiovascular events. Our study draws attention to the importance of cardiac screening in elite handball referees.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document