Novel Strategies for Reducing Heart Disease Risk Disparities

Overview

This Western Pennsylvania-based study will (1) improve cardiovascular risk stratification to identify high-risk populations, (2) identify differences in cardiovascular risk, (3) evaluate mechanisms for population differences in cardiovascular risk, and (4) implement a multidisciplinary community-based intervention program to decrease cardiovascular risk in high-risk populations. This is a prospective cohort study of 2,000 residents of the state of Pennsylvania. All participants will undergo assessments of traditional and nontraditional risk factors to identify and determine the mechanisms of population disparities in cardiovascular risk. 800 participants who are at intermediate or high risk of cardiovascular disease will be randomly assigned to either (1) usual care/"advice only"; or (2) a multidisciplinary behavioral modification program to determine the most effective approach to reduce or eliminate differences in cardiovascular risk among high risk populations. All participants will undergo long-term follow-up for cardiovascular events.

Well-established disparities exist in the prevalence and outcome of cardiovascular disease related to race and socioeconomic status (SES). Our previous work confirms these disparities and suggests that they may be related to population differences in the prevalence of nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors. We propose that these disparities can be significantly reduced or eliminated by (1) a community-based intervention program that incorporates a multidisciplinary education program led by a behavioral interventionalist, a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist, and (2) a novel approach to cardiovascular risk stratification that considers population differences in traditional and nontraditional risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis. To successfully implement this program, particularly in traditionally underserved communities, we have formalized a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health, the Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center, and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Urban League of Pittsburgh, and Jewish Healthcare Foundation. This partnership is positioned to study the following specific aims: 1. To determine whether a community-based intervention program that incorporates a multidisciplinary education program led by a behavioral interventionalist, a nutritionist, and an exercise physiologist can reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular risk in intermediate and high risk populations. 2. To ascertain whether a comprehensive assessment of nontraditional risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis can provide incremental value above and beyond traditional risk assessment in identifying individuals at high cardiovascular risk.