Cardiovascular patients who reported difficulty in accessing routine care had substantial risks of readmission within 30 days after discharge. These findings have important implications for identifying high-risk patients and developing interventions to improve access to routine medical care.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and nearly one million Americans will have a heart attack this year. Although the risks associated with a heart attack are well established, we know surprisingly little about how marital factors contribute to survival in adults afflicted with heart disease. This study uses a life course perspective and longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine how various dimensions of marital life influence survival in U.S. older adults who suffered a heart attack (n=2,197). We found that adults who were never married (odds ratio [OR]=1.73), currently divorced (OR=1.70), or widowed (OR=1.34) were at significantly greater risk of dying after a heart attack than adults who were continuously married; and the risks were not uniform over time. We also found that the risk of dying increased by 12% for every additional marital loss and decreased by 7% for every one-tenth increase in the proportion of years married. After accounting for more than a dozen socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioral, and physiological factors, we found that current marital status remained the most robust indicator of survival following a heart attack. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context of life course inequalities in chronic disease and directions for future research.

Background Recent studies have drawn attention to nonclinical factors to better understand disparities in the development, treatment and prognosis of patients with cardiovascular disease. However, there has been limited research describing the nonclinical characteristics of patients hospitalized for cardiovascular care. Methods Data for this study come from 520 patients admitted to the Duke Heart Center from January 1, 2015 through January 10, 2017. Electronic medical records and a standardized survey administered before discharge were used to ascertain detailed information on patients’ demographic (age, sex, race, marital status and living arrangement), socioeconomic (education, employment and health insurance), psychosocial (health literacy, health self-efficacy, social support, stress and depressive symptoms) and behavioral (smoking, drinking and medication adherence) attributes. Results Study participants were of a median age of 65 years, predominantly male (61.4%), non-Hispanic white (67.1%), hospitalized for 5.11 days and comparable to all patients admitted during this period. Results from the survey showed significant heterogeneity among patients in their demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics. We also found that the patients’ levels of psychosocial risks and resources were significantly associated with many of these nonclinical characteristics. Patients who were older, women, nonwhite and unmarried had generally lower levels of health literacy, self-efficacy and social support, and higher levels of stress and depressive symptoms than their counterparts. Conclusions Patients hospitalized with cardiovascular disease have diverse nonclinical profiles that have important implications for targeting interventions. A better understanding of these characteristics will enhance the personalized delivery of care and improve outcomes in vulnerable patient groups.

We assessed environmental contamination of inpatient rooms housing COVID-19 patients in a dedicated COVID-19 unit. Contamination with SARS-CoV-2 was found on 5.5% (19/347) of surfaces via RT-PCR and 0.3% (1/347) of surfaces via cell culture. Environmental contamination is uncommon in hospitals rooms; RNA presence is not a specific indicator of infectious virus.