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Abstract Background Early detection of lung disease may help reduce disease development. Detection through preventive health checks may be beneficial. Nevertheless, the knowledge is sparse on how to enhance the participation rate in health checks among citizens at risk of developing lung disease. This study investigates if focused information on spirometry can increase the participation rate in a general health check. Methods We conducted an open-label, household cluster-randomised trial with a two-group parallel design including 4407 citizens aged 30–49 years in Denmark and an average cluster size of 1.55 citizens per household. The control group (n = 2213) received a standard invitation describing the content of the general health check and containing practical information. The intervention group (n = 2194) received an extended invitation highlighting the benefits of early detection and prevention of lung disease. The primary outcome was difference in participation rate between the two groups. The secondary outcome was the proportion of participants at risk of lung disease in both groups. Risk profile was defined as current smoking or self-reported lung symptoms. The inclusion period was 25 November 2015–3 February 2017. Results No major difference in participation rate was seen between the intervention group (53.4%) and the control group (52.0%). Participants had statistically significantly higher education level compared to non-participants. A total of 24.2% of the participants were at risk of developing lung disease, but no difference was found between the intervention group and the control group. Conclusion This study revealed no effect on participation rate of including focused spirometry information in the health check invitation. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02615769. Registered on 25 November 2015. The trial protocol has been published.

Abstract Background Administrative patient registers are often used to estimate morbidity in epidemiological studies. The validity of register data is thus important. This study aims to assess the positive predictive value of myocardial infarction and stroke registered in the Danish National Patient Register, and to examine the association between cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease based on register data or validated diagnoses in a well-defined diabetes population. Methods We included 1533 individuals found with screen-detected type 2 diabetes in the ADDITION-Denmark study in 2001–2006. All individuals were followed for cardiovascular outcomes until the end of 2014. Hospital discharge codes for myocardial infarction and stroke were identified in the Danish National Patient Register. Hospital medical records and other clinically relevant information were collected and an independent adjudication committee evaluated all possible events. The positive predictive value for myocardial infarction and stroke were calculated as the proportion of cases recorded in the Danish National Patient Register confirmed by the adjudication committee. Results The positive predictive value was 75% (95% CI: 64;84) for MI and 70% (95% CI: 54;80) for stroke. The association between cardiovascular risk factors and incident cardiovascular disease did not depend on using register-based or verified diagnoses. However, a tendency was seen towards stronger associations when using verified diagnoses. Conclusions Our results show that studies using only register-based diagnoses are likely to misclassify cardiovascular outcomes. Moreover, the results suggest that the magnitude of associations between cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes may be underestimated when using register-based diagnoses.

Abstract Background In the backdroup of a rapidly increasing burden of diabetes in Nepal, a community-based diabetes management program is implemented involving female community health volunteers (FCHVs) under the government run FCHVs program. FCHVs received an intensive one-week training workshop on prevention, control and management of diabetes. The training program was implemented and evaluated to enhance diabetes knowledge of FCHVs and matched according to their literacy level. Methods A range of teaching methods were applied, including desk review, active participation, lectures, presentations, discussions, role plays, demonstration and field test. Evaluation of the knowledge attained was done by testing before and after the workshop. Major milestones in the development of the training module were presented from desk review and ending in stakeholder’s participation in reviewing and revising the training package. The qualitative interview transcripts of FCHVs were analyzed thematically. Results A 5-day training package was developed through a desk review of interventions using community health workers (CHWs) on diabetes management from similar settings. Training module included home-based blood glucose monitoring and home-based health education on life style counselling delivered through a participatory learning approach. There were 20 participants with a mean age of 47 years (SD ± 5.7). The overall assessment of knowledge of diabetes before-after the training, evaluated by the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ) showed increases in mean score from 40.4% before training to a mean score of 63.3% after training (Paired t-test: t = − 11.1, P

Abstract Background Poor uptake among socio-economically disadvantaged and susceptible populations is a well-known challenge of general health check interventions, and is widely cited as one of the reasons for the lack of population level effects seen in many studies. We report on patient characteristics among attendees and non-attendees of health checks made available to residents in the social housing sector of the municipality of Aarhus. We focus on this general population, as well as a particular sub-group living in an exceptionally deprived social housing area, and discuss the properties of intervention uptake that we need to be aware of to qualify and compare the effects of general versus targeted health checks in socially deprived areas. Methods Cross-sectionally in a sample of 6650 residents of the Aarhus social housing sector who were invited for a health check in the first year of the ‘Your Life – Your Health’ program. The analyses consisted of 1) descriptive analysis of the characteristics of attenders/non-attenders, 2) unadjusted and adjusted Poisson regression to examine associations of patient characteristics and uptake of health checks, and 3) decision tree analyses (CHAID) to examine interaction and homogeneity in patient characteristics among attenders. Results Of the overall population 30% attended. In a nested cohort of people residing in a particularly deprived social housing settlement, 25% attended. Further, in the overall population, we found an association between the likelihood of taking up a health check and age, sex, country of origin, educational attainment, cohabitation, occupational status, and past medical treatment. In the nested cohort the association between uptake and medical treatment was non-significant, while the association between uptake and occupation was limited to people who were employed. These results resonate with past evidence on health check attendance. Conclusions Attendance in the ‘Your Life – Your Health’ program is higher among people of a higher socio-economic status. This should be taken into consideration when analysing and interpreting the overall study effects. Moreover, the results suggest that a targeted approach in the social housing sector could be more effective than a mass screening approach. However, more information is required to make such assertion definitive.

Abstract Background Screening programmes for type 2 diabetes inevitably find more individuals at high risk for diabetes than people with undiagnosed prevalent disease. While well established guidelines for the treatment of diabetes exist, less is known about treatment or prevention strategies for individuals found at high risk following screening. In order to make better use of the opportunities for primary prevention of diabetes and its complications among this high risk group, it is important to quantify diabetes progression rates and to examine the development of early markers of cardiovascular disease and microvascular diabetic complications. We also require a better understanding of the mechanisms that underlie and drive early changes in cardiometabolic physiology. The ADDITION-PRO study was designed to address these issues among individuals at different levels of diabetes risk recruited from Danish primary care. Methods/Design ADDITION-PRO is a population-based, longitudinal cohort study of individuals at high risk for diabetes. 16,136 eligible individuals were identified at high risk following participation in a stepwise screening programme in Danish general practice between 2001 and 2006. All individuals with impaired glucose regulation at screening, those who developed diabetes following screening, and a random sub-sample of those at lower levels of diabetes risk were invited to attend a follow-up health assessment in 2009–2011 (n = 4,188), of whom 2,082 (50%) attended. The health assessment included detailed measurement of anthropometry, body composition, biochemistry, physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors including aortic stiffness and central blood pressure. All ADDITION-PRO participants are being followed for incident cardiovascular disease and death. Discussion The ADDITION-PRO study is designed to increase understanding of cardiovascular risk and its underlying mechanisms among individuals at high risk of diabetes. Key features of this study include (i) a carefully characterised cohort at different levels of diabetes risk; (ii) detailed measurement of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors; (iii) objective measurement of physical activity behaviour; and (iv) long-term follow-up of hard clinical outcomes including mortality and cardiovascular disease. Results will inform policy recommendations concerning cardiovascular risk reduction and treatment among individuals at high risk for diabetes. The detailed phenotyping of this cohort will also allow a number of research questions concerning early changes in cardiometabolic physiology to be addressed.