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Elizabeth Mostofsky,1–3 Jillian A Dunn,3 Sonia Hernández-Díaz,3 Anna C Johansson,2,4 Murray A Mittleman1–4 1Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 3Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; 4Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Background: Rather than identifying exposures and outcomes for research solely based on interests of medical professionals, there is a need for research that answers questions that are important to patients, so that they may make treatment decisions based on evidence that reflect their individual preferences.Objective: To identify exposures and outcomes of interest that could be studied with electronic health record data from inpatient care.Design, setting, participants: Mixed-methods analysis of semi-structured interviews administered in 2017 to 76 patients and 26 physicians who receive or provide care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA.Measurements: After conducting detailed semi-structured interviews about topics of interest that can be studied using electronic health records of inpatient care, we used an inductive approach to identify themes about the health care experience.Results: Participants reported concerns about adverse effects of medication changes, drug interactions, and surgery and other invasive procedures. The outcomes of greatest concern to them were in-hospital deaths and hospital-acquired infections. Participants commented on the importance of clear communication and information transfers, the hospital environment, accurate skills and knowledge, and upholding patient dignity and respect.Conclusion: Engaging patients and physicians in the research development process provided insight to the exposures and outcomes they consider important. Our questions about

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of chocolate consumption and heart failure (HF) in a large population of Swedish men. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 31,917 men 45-79 years old with no history of myocardial infarction, diabetes, or HF at baseline who were participants in the population-based Cohort of Swedish Men study. Chocolate consumption was assessed through a self-administrated food frequency questionnaire. Participants were followed for HF hospitalization or mortality from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2011, using record linkage to the Swedish inpatient and cause-of-death registries. RESULTS: During 14 years of follow-up, 2,157 men were hospitalized (n=1,901) or died from incident HF (n=256). Compared with subjects who reported no chocolate intake, the multivariable-adjusted rate ratio of HF was 0.88 (95% CI 0.78-0.99) for those consuming 1-3 servings per month, 0.83 (95% CI 0.72-0.94) for those consuming 1-2 servings per week, 0.82 (95% CI 0.68-0.99) for those consuming 3-6 servings per week, and 1.10 (95% CI 0.84-1.45) for those consuming ≥1 serving per day (P for quadratic trend=.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective cohort study, there was a J-shaped relationship between chocolate consumption and HF incidence. Moderate chocolate consumption was associated with a lower rate of HF hospitalization or death, but the protective association was not observed among individuals consuming ≥1 serving per day. Journal Subject Codes: Etiology: Epidemiology, Heart failure: Congestive.

Background Compared with no alcohol consumption, heavy alcohol intake is associated with a higher rate of heart failure (HF) whereas light-to-moderate intake may be associated with a lower rate. However, several prior studies did not exclude former drinkers, who may have changed alcohol consumption in response to diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the association between alcohol intake and incident HF. Methods and Results We conducted a prospective cohort study of 33 760 men aged 45 to 79 years with no HF, diabetes mellitus, or myocardial infarction at baseline participating in the Cohort of Swedish Men Study. We excluded former drinkers. At baseline, participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and reported other characteristics. HF was defined as hospitalization for or death from HF, ascertained by Swedish inpatient and cause-of-death records from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2011. We constructed Cox proportional hazards models to estimate multivariable-adjusted incidence rate ratios. During follow-up, 2916 men were hospitalized for (n=2139) or died (n=777) of incident HF. There was a U-shaped relationship between total alcohol intake and incident HF (P=0.0004). There was a nadir at light-to-moderate alcohol intake: consuming 7 to <14 standard drinks per week was associated with a 19% lower multivariable-adjusted rate of HF compared with never drinking (incidence rate ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.69-0.96). Conclusions In this cohort of Swedish men, there was a U-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and HF incidence, with a nadir at light-to-moderate intake. Heavy intake did not seem protective.

Background-Randomized clinical trials have shown that chocolate intake reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and observational studies have found an inverse association between chocolate intake and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between chocolate intake and incidence of heart failure (HF). Methods and Results-We conducted a prospective cohort study of 31 823 women aged 48 to 83 years without baseline diabetes or a history of HF or myocardial infarction who were participants in the Swedish Mammography Cohort. In addition to answering health and lifestyle questions, participants completed a food-frequency questionnaire. Women were followed from January 1, 1998, through December 31, 2006, for HF hospitalization or death through the Swedish inpatient and cause-of-death registers. Over 9 years of follow-up, 419 women were hospitalized for incident HF (n=379) or died of HF (n=40). Compared with no regular chocolate intake, the multivariable-adjusted rate ratio of HF was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.58 to 0.95) for women consuming 1 to 3 servings of chocolate per month, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.50 to 0.93) for those consuming 1 to 2 servings per week, 1.09 (95% CI, 0.74 to 1.62) for those consuming 3 to 6 servings per week, and 1.23 (95% CI, 0.73 to 2.08) for those consuming >= 1 servings per day (P=0.0005 for quadratic trend). Conclusions-In this population, moderate habitual chocolate intake was associated with a lower rate of HF hospitalization or death, but the protective association was not observed with intake of >= 1 servings per day. (Circ Heart Fail. 2010;3:612-616.)