Assessment and Utilization of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures to Improve Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Abstract

Background: The American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7) consist of clinical factors and health-related behaviors associated with cardiovascular health. The prevalence of these health factors among patients seeking specialized cardiovascular care is unknown. We sought to quantify patient-reported cardiovascular risk among those seeking specialized cardiovascular care and implement tailored quality improvement interventions. Methods and Results: Patients cared for by cardiovascular specialists at an academic medical center were surveyed with a modified LS7. We compared the prevalence of optimal health factors by atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) status. Recent smokers or patients with ASCVD reporting non-adherence to antiplatelets or statins were contacted. Surveys for 5,950 patients were collected during 2014 to 2016. The mean (SD) age was 64 (15) years, 2613 (44%) were women, and 3478 (58%) had ASCVD. Only 34 (0.6 %) achieved ideal status for all 7 factors, which did not differ by ASCVD status (P=0.48). Of 404 (6.8%) reporting recent smoking, 94/404 (23.3%) were successfully contacted, and 71/404 (17.6%) accepted support. Among those with ASCVD, 84 (2.4%) reported not taking a statin/antiplatelet without contraindications. Conclusions: The prevalence of optimal health factors, including health-related behaviors, among patients cared for by cardiovascular specialists remains low. Assessment of patient-reported outcomes facilitates scalable interventions to improve cardiovascular disease prevention.