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Background: Team-based care (TBC), a team of ≥2 healthcare professionals working collaboratively toward a shared clinical goal, is a recommended strategy to manage blood pressure (BP). However, the most effective and cost-effective TBC strategy is unknown. Methods: A meta-analysis of clinical trials in US adults (aged ≥20 years) with uncontrolled hypertension (≥140/90 mm Hg) was performed to estimate the systolic BP reduction for TBC strategies versus usual care at 12 months. TBC strategies were stratified by the inclusion of a nonphysician team member who could titrate antihypertensive medications. The validated BP Control Model-Cardiovascular Disease Policy Model was used to project the expected BP reductions out to 10 years and simulate cardiovascular disease events, direct healthcare costs, quality-adjusted life years, and cost-effectiveness of TBC with physician and nonphysician titration. Results: Among 19 studies comprising 5993 participants, the 12-month systolic BP change versus usual care was −5.0 (95% CI, −7.9 to −2.2) mm Hg for TBC with physician titration and −10.5 (−16.2 to −4.8) mm Hg for TBC with nonphysician titration. Relative to usual care at 10 years, TBC with nonphysician titration was estimated to cost $95 (95% uncertainty interval, −$563 to $664) more per patient and gain 0.022 (0.003–0.042) quality-adjusted life years, costing $4400/quality-adjusted life year gained. TBC with physician titration was estimated to cost more and gain fewer quality-adjusted life years than TBC with nonphysician titration. Conclusions: TBC with nonphysician titration yields superior hypertension outcomes compared with other strategies and is a cost-effective way to reduce hypertension-related morbidity and mortality in the United States.

Background Treating hypertension with antihypertensive medications combinations, rather than one medication (ie, monotherapy), is underused in the United States, particularly in certain race/ethnic groups. Identifying factors associated with monotherapy use despite uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) overall and within race/ethnic groups may elucidate intervention targets in under-treated populations. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES; 2013-2014 through 2017-2018). We included participants age ≥20 years with hypertension, taking at least one antihypertensive medication, and uncontrolled BP (systolic BP [SBP] ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic BP [DBP] ≥ 90 mmHg). Demographic, clinical, and healthcare-access factors associated with antihypertensive monotherapy were determined using multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression. Results Among 1,597 participants with hypertension and uncontrolled BP, age- and sex- adjusted prevalence of monotherapy was 42.6% overall, 45.4% among non-Hispanic White, 31.9% among non-Hispanic Black, 39.6% among Hispanic, and 50.9% among non-Hispanic Asian adults. Overall, higher SBP was associated with higher monotherapy use, while older age, having a healthcare visit in the previous year, higher body mass index, and having heart failure were associated with lower monotherapy use. Conclusion Clinical and healthcare-access factors, including a healthcare visit within the previous year and co-morbid conditions were associated with a higher likelihood of combination antihypertensive therapy.

BackgroundHypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet lowers blood pressure (BP). However, adherence is typically low. Mindfulness training adapted to improving health behaviors that lower BP could improve DASH adherence, in part through improved interoceptive awareness relevant to dietary consumption. The primary objective of the MB-BP trial was to evaluate effects of the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) program on interoceptive awareness. Secondary objectives assessed whether MB-BP impacts DASH adherence, and explored whether interoceptive awareness mediates DASH dietary changes.MethodsParallel-group phase 2 randomized clinical trial conducted from June 2017-November 2020 with 6 months follow-up. Data analyst was blinded to group allocation. Participants had elevated unattended office BP (≥120/80 mmHg). We randomized 201 participants to MB-BP (n=101) or enhanced usual care control (n=100). Loss-to-follow-up was 11.9%. Outcomes were the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA; range 0-5) score, and the DASH adherence score (range 0-11) assessed via a 163-item Food Frequency Questionnaire.ResultsParticipants were 58.7% female, 81.1% non-Hispanic white, with mean age 59.5 years. Regression analyses demonstrated that MB-BP increased the MAIA score by 0.54 (95% CI: 0.35,0.74; pConclusionsA mindfulness training program adapted to improving health behaviors that lower BP improved interoceptive awareness and DASH adherence. MB-BP could support DASH dietary adherence in adults with elevated BP.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.govidentifierNCT03859076(https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03859076; MAIA) andNCT03256890(https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03256890; DASH diet adherence).

BACKGROUND Older African and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately more likely than older White Americans to have dementia. OBJECTIVE To assess social support needs among African American and Hispanic dementia caregivers to establish a foundation that can inform designs for culturally sensitive social support interventions. METHODS Design: This mixed-methods study applied natural language processing (NLP) on qualitative data. Setting: Academic medical center in New York Participants: Volunteer sample of seven experts participated together in the series of in-depth expert panels. The four dementia caregivers were recruited from the dementia caregiver registry, as well as via flyers posted within and outside of the institution. Health professionals were recruited from Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Eligible caregivers included those who had been a primary family dementia caregiver for at least three years, spoke English or Spanish, and used text messaging. Eligible professionals included those with at least 5 years of experience and publication on dementia caregiving. An eligible health communication specialist included one with a degree in health literacy. RESULTS A total of 72 topics (38 needs, 34 strategies, 2,322 terms) were identified through the NLP process: 1) 21 topics regarding disease, medication and communication from the information support corpus (coherence: 0.470, 38.77%); 2) 20 topics regarding care coordination and social services from the instrumental support corpus (coherence: 0.513, 23.97%); 3) 21 topics regarding psychological distress and copying from the emotional support corpus (coherence: 0.509, 21.25%); 4) 9 topics regarding self-evaluations on caregiving from the appraisal support corpus (coherence: 0.461, 15.99%). CONCLUSIONS This study is among the first to use NLP on qualitative data gathered from expert panels. New findings on unmet needs include for providers to disclose disease prognosis, to understand cultural norms on seizure treatment as a result of side effect of donepezil, and to familiarize with culturally sensitive terminologies and routine medications for dementia to reduce distrust. CLINICALTRIAL NCT03865498

The COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a tidal wave of psychological distress. Here, we discuss the biobehavioral mechanisms through which psychological distress amplifyies the adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2-infection on cardiovascular outcomes. We also examine how the stress of caring for patients with COVID-19 increases cardiovascular risk in healthcare workers.

Many patients recovering from COVID-19 report persistent psychological and cognitive symptoms months after viral clearance. We examined the association of depression and COVID-induced PTSD with cognitive symptoms following COVID-19 illness.Patients treated for COVID-19 between March 26 and May 27, 2020 were surveyed three months later. Cognitive symptoms were assessed by asking "Since your COVID-19 illness, do you now have more difficulty: 1) Remembering conversations a few days later? 2) Remembering where you placed familiar objects? 3) Finding the right words while speaking?" Patients endorsing at least one such complaint were coded positive for cognitive symptoms. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association of depression (PHQ-8 ≥ 10) and COVID-induced PTSD (PCL-5 ≥ 30) with cognitive symptoms, adjusting for demographic and clinical factors.Among 153 participants, 44.4% reported at least one cognitive symptom, 18.3% were depressed, and 23.5% had COVID-induced PTSD. Adjusting for covariates, depression (OR 5.15, 95% CI 1.30-20.35, p = 0.02) and COVID-induced PTSD (OR 3.67, 95% CI 1.13-11.89, p = 0.03) were significantly associated with cognitive symptoms; self-reported history of mental illness was also associated (OR 4.90, 95% CI 1.24-19.41, p = 0.02).Depression, COVID-induced PTSD, and prior mental illness were strongly associated with cognitive symptoms three months after acute COVID-19 illness.

Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in human history. It has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and leading researchers from academic institutions around the globe. Structural racism disproportionately exposes communities targeted for marginalization to the harmful consequences of climate change through greater risk of exposure and sensitivity to climate hazards and less adaptive capacity to the health threats of climate change. Given its interdisciplinary approach to integrating behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical knowledge, the discipline of behavioral medicine is uniquely qualified to address the systemic causes of climate change-related health inequities and can offer a perspective that is currently missing from many climate and health equity efforts. In this article, we summarize relevant concepts, describe how climate change and structural racism intersect to exacerbate health inequities, and recommend six strategies with the greatest potential for addressing climate-related health inequities.

Background: Describing the antihypertensive medication regimens used in the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) would contextualize the standard and intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) interventions and may inform future implementation efforts to achieve population-wide intensive SBP goals. Methods: We included SPRINT participants with complete medication data at the prerandomization and 12-month visits. Regimens were categorized by antihypertensive medication class. Analyses were stratified by treatment group (standard goal SBP Results: Among 7860 participants (83.7% of 9361 randomized), the median number of classes used at the prerandomization visit was 2.0 and 2.0 in the standard and intensive groups ( P =0.559). At 12-months, the median number of classes used was 3.0 and 2.0 in the intensive and standard groups ( P Conclusions: SPRINT investigators favored combining ACEs or ARBs, thiazide diuretics, and calcium channel blockers to target SBP Registration: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01206062.

Background Depression after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is common and increases risks of adverse outcomes, but it remains unclear which depression features are most associated with major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and all-cause mortality (ACM). Purpose To examine whether a subtype of depression characterized by anhedonia and major depressive disorder (MDD) predicts 1-year MACE/ACM occurrence in ACS patients compared to no MDD history. We also consider other depression features in the literature as predictors. Methods Patients (N = 1,087) presenting to a hospital with ACS completed a self-report measure of current depressive symptoms in-hospital and a diagnostic interview assessing MDD within 1 week post-hospitalization. MACE/ACM events were assessed at 1-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. Cox regression models were used to examine the association of the anhedonic depression subtype and MDD without anhedonia with time to MACE/ACM, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates. Results There were 142 MACE/ACM events over the 12-month follow-up. The 1-year MACE/ACM in patients with anhedonic depression, compared to those with no MDD, was somewhat higher in an age-adjusted model (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.63, p = .08), but was not significant after further covariate adjustment (HR = 1.24, p = .47). Of the additional depression features, moderate-to-severe self-reported depressive symptoms significantly predicted the risk of MACE/ACM, even in covariate-adjusted models (HR = 1.72, p = .04), but the continuous measure of self-reported depressive symptoms did not. Conclusion The anhedonic depression subtype did not uniquely predict MACE/ACM as hypothesized. Moderate-to-severe levels of total self-reported depressive symptoms, however, may be associated with increased MACE/ACM risk, even after accounting for potential sociodemographic and clinical confounders.

Corrine I Voils,1,2 Kara L Gavin,2 Carolyn T Thorpe,3,4 Samantha K Pabich,1,2 Bryce B Reeve,5 Ghazan J Mian,2 Aaron Faacks,2 Ian M Kronish6 1William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA; 2University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA; 3Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 4University of North Carolina, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; 5Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; 6Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USACorrespondence: Corrine I Voils, University of Wisconsin Department of Surgery, 600 Highland Ave, K6/100 CSC, Madison, WI, 53792-1690, USA, Tel +1 608 262 9636, Fax +1 608 263 2354, Email voils@surgery.wisc.eduIntroduction: Patients with diabetes may take oral and injectable medications and often have comorbid chronic diseases. It is unclear whether to assess nonadherence for oral and injectable medications separately or combined and for comorbid conditions separately or combined.Research Design and Methods: We conducted two cognitive interview studies among patients with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed medications for oral or injectable diabetes medications (Study 1) or at least one diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol medication (Study 2). Participants completed the two-domain DOSE-Nonadherence measure, which assesses extent of nonadherence and reasons for nonadherence. We asked about interpretation of instructions and items, recall period, ability to respond accurately with separate versus combined versions, and comprehensiveness of reasons for nonadherence to injectable medications.Results: Based on Study 1 (n=14), nonadherence to injectable and oral medications should be assessed separately. Participants believe they can respond accurately to 7-day recall period for daily medications and a one-month recall period for weekly injectable medications. New reasons for nonadherence to injectable medications were perceived as relevant. Based on Study 2 (n-12), nonadherence to medications for diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol should be assessed separately.Conclusion: Although separate versions increase response time, it may improve accuracy. Responses to the measure can facilitate conversations about nonadherence between providers and patients to inform clinical decision-making.Keywords: diabetes, medication adherence, cognitive interview

Background: Hypertension is the most important modifiable stroke risk factor, but blood pressure (BP) remains poorly controlled after stroke, especially among Black and Hispanic patients. We tested the feasibility of TASC (Telehealth After Stroke Care), a post-acute stroke care model integrating nurse-supported home BP telemonitoring, tailored infographics, and multidisciplinary team video visits. Methods: Acute stroke patients with hypertension were randomized at discharge to usual care or usual care with TASC. Usual care patients received video visits with primary care and stroke. TASC included a tablet and monitor to wirelessly transmit BP data to the electronic health record, with telenursing support, tailored infographics to explain BP readings, and pharmacist visits. Outcomes assessment was blinded. Feasibility outcomes included recruitment, randomization, adherence, and retention. Systolic BP from baseline to 3 months after discharge was evaluated using generalized linear modeling. Results: Fifty patients (64±14 years; 36% women‚ 44% Hispanic, 32% Black, 54% ≤high school education, 30% private insurance), and 75% of all eligible were enrolled over 6.3 months. Baseline systolic BP was similar in both (TASC n=25, 140±19 mm Hg; usual care n=25, 142±19 mm Hg). At 3 months, adherence to video visits (91% versus 75%, P =0.14) and retention (84% versus 64%, P =0.11) were higher with TASC. Home systolic BP declined by 16±19 mm Hg from baseline in TASC and increased by 3±24 mm Hg in usual care ( P =0.01). Among Black patients, systolic BP control ( Conclusions: Enhancing post-acute stroke care with home BP telemonitoring is feasible to improve hypertension in an underserved setting and should be tested in a definitive randomized clinical trial. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT04640519.

Background: In 2015, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated its primary care screening guidelines to recommend out-of-office BP testing with ABPM or HBPM for confirming the diagnosis of hypertension (HTN) in adult patients with high office BP. Methods: We applied the Behavior Change Wheel framework to develop a theory-informed strategy for increasing the uptake of the USPSTF HTN screening guideline. We then conducted a 2-arm cluster randomized trial in which 8 primary care practices (154 clinicians) in an ambulatory care network serving vulnerable communities in New York City were randomized to receive the implementation strategy (4 practices) or a wait-list control (4 practices). The strategy was implemented from October 2017 to March 2018, and consisted of: 1) clinician education about HTN screening recommendations; 2) clinician information on how to order ABPM and HPBM; 3) patient information on ABPM and HBPM; 4) nurse training on how to teach patients to conduct HBPM; 5) access to an ABPM testing service; 6) clinician feedback on out-of-office BP test ordering; and 7) embedded tools in the EHR to facilitate ABPM and HBPM ordering. The primary outcome was change in the proportion of patients completing ABPM or HBPM in the year before versus year after implementation. Results: There were 1069 eligible patients (mean age 53±16 years, 67% women) with high office BP but no diagnosis or treatment for HTN. In implementation practices, the proportion of patients with out-of-office BP test ordering increased from 0.5% in the year before implementation to 4.0% in the year after implementation (p Conclusions: A theory-informed implementation strategy increased out-of-office BP testing in adult primary care patients being screened for HTN. Yet, out-of-office BP testing in the context of HTN screening remained low in both implementation and control practices, suggesting a need for more potent implementation strategies.

Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) screening guidelines recommend using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to exclude white coat HTN prior to newly diagnosing HTN. Yet, little is known about the impact of ABPM testing on HTN diagnosis decisions in primary care. Unfamiliarity with how to interpret ABPM results could lead to overtreatment or diagnostic inertia, the failure to diagnose a disease despite clinical evidence. Methods: We examined medical records of primary care patients with elevated office BP (≥140/90 mmHg) who were referred to an ABPM testing service. Patients were eligible for analysis if they were ≥18 years old, had elevated office BP without a HTN diagnosis and not prescribed BP medications, were referred by a primary care clinician from clinics affiliated with Columbia University Medical Center, and completed ABPM testing between 2016-2019. Using mean awake BP of 135/85 mmHg as the threshold for elevated ABPM, we compared the BP testing outcome (white coat HTN, in which only office BP was elevated, or sustained HTN, in which both office and ambulatory BP were elevated) to the physician’s action at the subsequent scheduled primary care visit (diagnosed or did not diagnose HTN per manual review of electronic medical records). Results: Overall, 111 patients with newly elevated office BP completed ABPM testing during the analysis period. Patients were referred by 60 physicians (50% trainees) from 6 clinics. Patients had a mean (SD) age of 53 (15) years; 73% were women. Fifty-nine patients (53%) had white coat HTN, and 52 (88%) were not diagnosed with HTN at their next primary care visit. The remaining 52 patients (47%) had sustained HTN, and 44 (85%) were diagnosed with HTN at their next visit. Medication was started for 31 of these 44 (70%). Overall, physicians diagnosed HTN concordantly with ABPM results for 96/111 patients (86%). Conclusions: More than half of primary care patients with elevated office BP referred for ABPM had white coat HTN. There was high concordance between ABPM results and physician HTN diagnoses, suggesting that ABPM reduces but does not eliminate overdiagnosis and diagnostic inertia in HTN. More research is needed to understand the reasons for discordance and how to optimize the implementation of ABPM testing into primary care.

To summarize the prevalence, correlates, and health consequences of poor mental health in the increasingly sizable population of survivors of Sudden cardiac arrest (CA) and to describe current intervention research in this area.After CA many patients report high psychological distress, including depression, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Emerging evidence suggests that distressed patients' attention may narrow such that anxious awareness of afferent cardiac signals e.g., changes in heart rate or blood pressure, becomes predominant and a cause for concerned, constant monitoring. This cardiac-specific anxiety followed by behavioral avoidance and physiological hyperreactivity may increase patients' already high risk of secondary cardiovascular disease and undermine their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Unlike other cardiovascular diseases, no clinical practice guidelines exist for assessing or treating psychological sequelae of CA. Future research should identify modifiable psychological targets to reduce secondary cardiovascular disease risk and improve HRQoL.

OBJECTIVE Personalized trials have the potential to improve the precision of treatment selection and foster patient involvement in clinical decision making. Little is known about the attitudes of patients with multimorbidities. To address this, stakeholders designed and conducted a national survey that determined general attitudes and features of personalized trials that may increase their use among patients with multimorbidities in clinical and research practice. METHOD A multistakeholder collaboratory of patients, clinicians, scientists, methodologists, statisticians, and research disseminators designed a survey to determine the conditions, symptoms, and design attributes most applicable to personalized trials according to patients. A sample of U.S. patients with two or more prespecified personalized-trial-amenable chronic conditions completed the online survey. RESULTS Multimorbid participants (N = 501; M age = 56.1 years) showed that some conditions, symptoms or use cases for personalized trials include pain (57.6%), hypertension (38.8%), diabetes (28.8%), sleep problems (27.4%), and depression (23.0%). Overall, 82.0% of the participants with multimorbidities were interested in participating in personalized trials. The percentage that were interested varied by trial attributes, including physician involvement (86.4%), patient-driven treatment selection (88.0%), clinician blinding (59.2%), placebo treatment options (57.5%), and out-of-pocket costs (41.8%). CONCLUSION Participants with multimorbidities identified prevalent use cases that are suited to personalized trials. Participants also identified design features of such trials, including patient-driven treatment selection, active comparators, and nonblinding. This study demonstrates that eliciting input from a collaboratory and patients with multimorbidities can inform research priorities for this rapidly growing patient population and increase adoption by researchers and clinicians alike. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction Telemedicine is increasing in popularity but the impact of this shift on patient outcomes has not been well described. Prior data has shown that early post-discharge office visits can reduce readmissions. However, it is unknown if routine use of telemedicine visits for this purpose is similarly beneficial. Materials and methods We conducted a retrospective observational study using electronic health records data to assess if the rate of 30-day hospital readmissions differed between modality of visit for primary care or cardiology post-discharge follow-up visits. Results Compared to discharges with completed in-person follow-up visits, the adjusted odds of readmission for those with telemedicine follow-up visits was not significantly different (odds ratio [OR] 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61 to 1.51, P = 0.86). Conclusions Our study showed that 30-day readmission rate did not differ significantly according to the modality of visit. These results provide reassurance that telemedicine visits are a safe and viable alternative for primary care or cardiology post-hospitalization follow-up.

Background and Purpose: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are common after stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and have been associated with medication nonadherence, potentially because medications serve as traumatic reminders of the prior stroke/TIA. This study examined associations between stroke/TIA-induced PTSD and aversive cognitions toward preventive medications. Methods: We enrolled a cohort of patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected stroke/TIA. One month posthospitalization, we assessed PTSD symptoms specific to the index stroke/TIA using the PTSD checklist specific and asked patients how often (1) did thinking about your stroke medication make you feel nervous or anxious?; (2) did thinking about your stroke medication make you think about your risk for future strokes?; and (3) did you skip or avoid taking your stroke medication so you would not have to think about your stroke? Logistic regression models tested the association between PTSD symptoms and each aversive cognition, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and depression. Results: Among 408 included patients, 11.0% had elevated PTSD symptoms. These patients were more likely to report that thinking about their stroke medication made them feel nervous or anxious (37.8% versus 9.9%, P P P =0.009). In adjusted analyses, higher PTSD checklist specific scores were associated with increased nervousness/anxiety (odds ratio, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.18–1.50], P P P =0.06). Conclusions: Medications may serve as traumatic reminders after stroke/TIA-induced PTSD, potentially leading to medication nonadherence.

Deprescribing has emerged as an important aspect of patient-centred medication management but is vastly underutilized in clinical practice. The current narrative review will describe an innovative patient-centred approach to deprescribing-N-of-1 trials. N-of-1 trials involve multiple-period crossover design experiments conducted within individual patients. They enable patients to compare the effects of two or more treatments or, in the case of deprescribing N-of-1 trials, continuation with a current treatment versus no treatment or placebo. N-of-1 trials are distinct from traditional between-patient studies such as parallel-group or crossover designs which provide an average effect across a group of patients and obscure differences between individuals. By generating data on the effect of an intervention for the individual rather than the population, N-of-1 trials can promote therapeutic precision. N-of-1 trials are a particularly appealing strategy to inform deprescribing because they can generate individual-level evidence for deprescribing when evidence is uncertain, and can thus allay patient and physician concerns about discontinuing medications. To illustrate the use of deprescribing N-of-1 trials, we share a case example of an ongoing series of N-of-1 trials that compare maintenance versus deprescribing of beta-blockers in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. By providing quantifiable data on patient-reported outcomes, promoting personalized pharmacotherapy, and facilitating shared decision making, N-of-1 trials represent a potentially transformative strategy to address polypharmacy.

Background: Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI) can significantly reduce mortality and hospitalization for patients with heart failure (HF). However, relatively high copayment costs for ARNI may contribute to shortfalls in adherence. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients within a large, diverse, multi-site health system. We included patients with: an active diagnosis of HF or ejection fraction (EF) ≤ 40% on echocardiogram; a prescription for ARNI between 11/20/2020-3/31/2021; and available pharmacy or pharmacy benefit manager copayment data. Our primary exposure variable was copay amount, categorized as: $0, $0.01-$10, $10.01-$100, >$100. Our primary outcome was adherence to ARNI, defined as the proportion of days covered (PDC) ≥ 80% over 6 months. We assessed the association between copay amount and PDC using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for the following: age, sex, race, ethnicity, insurance type, socioeconomic status (based on AHRQ SES index), EF, prior hospitalizations, and prior emergency visits. Results: A total of 567 patients met inclusion criteria. Low copay amounts ($0.01-$10), as opposed to no copay or higher copay amounts ($10.01-$100, >$100), were more common for patients who were younger, of Black race, Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity, with Medicaid insurance, lower SES index, and lower EF (all p Conclusions: We found lower rates of ARNI adherence for patients with higher copay amount, which persisted after multivariable adjustment. Our findings support policy-level interventions to reduce copay amounts for ARNI.

Objective Many acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients are nonadherent to cardiovascular medications despite their known benefits for lowering risk of recurrent cardiovascular events. Research suggests that greater cardiac-related fear of recurrence (FoR) may be associated with higher nonadherence to cardiovascular medications and avoidance of physical activity. We aim to test the effect of an intervention that targets FoR as a potentially modifiable mechanism underlying nonadherence to recommended health behaviors among patients with suspected ACS. Method The INFORM trial ("INvestigating Fear Of Recurrence as a modifiable Mechanism of behavior change to improve medication adherence in acute coronary syndrome patients") is a double-blind, parallel-group randomized clinical trial. It compares an 8-session, at-home, electronic tablet-delivered, cognitive bias modification training (CBMT) intervention with a sham control. Patients who experience high perceived threat at the time of presentation to the emergency department (ED) with a suspected ACS are enrolled and randomized within 6 weeks of their ED visit. The primary outcome, FoR, is measured by the adapted Concerns about Recurrent ACS Scale. The trial also tests the intervention's effect on a potential mechanism of health behavior change that is inversely correlated with fear: an expansive future time perspective. Additional outcomes include electronically measured adherence to a cardiovascular medication and self-reported physical activity. Conclusions This study takes a mechanistic approach to addressing the dangerous problem of poor health behaviors after ACS. The trial will test whether targeting FoR or future time perspective by CBMT is a promising approach to improving nonadherence after ACS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Stroke is a devastating event that annually affects over 800,000 million individuals in the USA and is associated with significant individual and social costs. In this narrative review, we summarize current evidence regarding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following acute stroke. In addition to the long-term physical consequences, it is increasingly recognized that psychological distress is common after stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). Nearly 1 in 4 survivors of TIA and stroke report elevated symptoms of PTSD in the first year following their cerebrovascular event. Those individuals with PTSD symptoms are at elevated risk for not only sustained psychological distress but also increased risk for non-adherence to medication. Factors in the emergency department, such as crowding, may influence the development of PTSD following acute stroke and TIA. We also summarize the rationale and clinical importance of developing and implementing quantitative predictive models of post-stroke PTSD symptoms in the ED setting. The potential of promising early interventions to prevent PTSD critically hinges on the accurate and precise identification of patients at risk for PTSD. Predictive modeling of PTSD risk may greatly facilitate the prospective management of mental health care in ED patients after stroke.

Introduction: Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for recurrent stroke. However, it remains poorly controlled after stroke, especially among Black and Hispanic patients. Black and Hispanics have a higher prevalence of uncontrolled BP and limited access to care. Interventions that promote equitable access are needed to improve outcomes. Aim: We tested whether a randomized trial of post-acute stroke care that integrates nurse-supported home BP telemonitoring, tailored infographics, and video visits with a multidisciplinary team including pharmacy (Telehealth After Stroke Care (TASC intervention) was feasible. Methods: Acute stroke patients with hypertension were randomized prior to discharge to usual care or TASC. Usual care patients received a video visit with primary care at 1-2 weeks and stroke specialist at 6 and 12 weeks after discharge. TASC patients received a tablet that wirelessly transmits BP data to the electronic health record, supported by remote telehealth nurse monitoring along with BP infographics, developed through community participatory design, at first visit and pharmacist visits. Outcomes included recruitment feasibility, visit adherence, and retention. Generalized linear modeling was used to evaluate within-patient home BP change. Results: Of 67 eligible patients, 6 were discharged before recruitment, 8 refused and 3 engaged in other studies. Fifty enrolled patients included 44% Hispanic, 32% Black and 36% women with mean age 64.3 (±14.0) yrs. About half had ≤ a high school education and 30% had commercial insurance. Baseline SBP was similar in TASC (140 ± 19 mmHg) vs. usual care (142 ± 19 mmHg). Retention rate was higher in TASC vs. usual care (84% vs 64%, p=0.11). Adherence to video visits was also higher in TASC (91% vs 75%, p=0.14). SBP control was better in TASC (76% vs. 25%, p Conclusion: Enhancing post-acute stroke care with home BP telemonitoring is a promising approach to improving hypertension control in an underserved setting that should be tested in a definitive randomized trial.

Out-of-office blood pressure (BP) monitoring (eg, home BP monitoring [HBPM] or ambulatory BP monitoring) to confirm a diagnosis of hypertension before treatment initiation after initial office screening is recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force and 2017 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) BP guidelines.1,2 One tool that may be used to help identify those in need of confirmatory BP monitoring is the Predicting Out-of-Office BP (PROOF-BP) algorithm, which uses office BP measurements and clinical characteristics to predict a patient’s out-of-office BP.3 Though many providers report recommending out-of-office BP monitoring to patients, the baseline frequency of its use for specific indications, such as confirming a diagnosis of hypertension, is not known.4 Further, barriers relevant to the accessibility and affordability of out-of-office BP monitoring have led to concerns that there may be disparities in the uptake of hypertension screening recommendations.5 This analysis examined how historical use of HBPM aligns with current out-of-office BP monitoring recommendations for hypertensive US adults without a previous hypertension diagnosis, and how HBPM use varies by patient characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Medications endorsed by clinical practice guidelines, such as cardiovascular medications, could still have risks that outweigh potential benefits, and could thus warrant deprescribing. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to develop a framework of facilitators and barriers specific to deprescribing cardiovascular medications in the setting of uncertain benefit. Given the frequent use of beta-blockers in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and its uncertain benefits with potential for harm, we used this scenario as an example case for a cardiovascular medication that may be reasonable to deprescribe. METHODS: We conducted one-on-one, semi-structured interviews of older adults until we reached thematic saturation. Two coders independently reviewed each interview, and developed codes using deductive thematic analysis based on a prior conceptual framework for deprescribing. Subthemes and themes were finalized with a third coder. RESULTS: We interviewed 10 participants. We identified three key previously-described patient-reported facilitators to deprescribing: 1) Appropriateness of cessation, 2) Process of cessation, and 3) Dislike of medications; and identified three key previously-described patient-reported barriers: 1) Appropriateness of cessation, 2) Process of cessation, and 3) Fear. We found that these facilitators and barriers often co-occurred within the same individual. This observation coupled with subthemes from our patient interviews yielded two barriers to deprescribing specific to cardiovascular medications—uncertainty and conflicting attitudes. CONCLUSION: We adapted a new framework of patient-reported barriers and facilitators specific to deprescribing cardiovascular medications. In addition to addressing barriers previously described, future deprescribing interventions targeting cardiovascular medications must also address uncertainty and conflicting attitudes.

The 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol recommends statin therapy for eligible patients to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). We extracted electronic health record data for patients with at least one primary care or cardiology visit between October 2018 and January 2020 at an urban, academic medical center in New York City. Clinical and demographic data were used to identify patients eligible for primary prevention statin therapy. Statin prescription status was extracted from the electronic health record, and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association between statin prescription and age, gender, race, ethnicity, and other clinical and demographic covariables. In 7,550 patients eligible for primary prevention statin therapy, 3,994 (52.9%) were prescribed statins on at least 1 visit. Statin prescription was highest in patients with diabetes mellitus (73.6%) and with a 10-year ASCVD risk ≥20% (60.6%) and was lowest for those with a 10-year ASCVD risk between 5% and 7.5% (18.7%). Compared with those never prescribed statins, patients prescribed statins were less likely to be women, mainly driven by lower statin prescription rates for women with diabetes. In a fully adjusted model, women remained less likely to be prescribed statin therapy (adjusted odds ratios 0.79, 95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.88). In conclusion, primary prevention statin therapy remains underutilized.

The relationship between psychological stress and heart failure (HF) has not been well studied. We sought to assess the relationship between perceived stress and incident HF.We used data from the national REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a large prospective biracial cohort study that enrolled community-dwellers aged 45 years and older between 2003 and 2007, with follow-up. We included participants free of suspected prevalent HF who completed the Cohen 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). Our outcome variables were incident HF event, HF with reduced ejection fraction events, and HF with preserved ejection fraction events. We estimated Cox proportional hazard models to determine if PSS-4 quartiles were independently associated with incident HF events, adjusting for sociodemographics, social support, unhealthy behaviors, comorbid conditions, and physiologic parameters. We also tested interactions by baseline statin use, given its anti-inflammatory properties.Among 25,785 participants with a mean age of 64 ± 9.3 years, 55% were female and 40% were Black. Over a median follow-up of 10.1 years, 1109 ± 4.3% experienced an incident HF event. In fully adjusted models, the PSS-4 was not associated with HF or HF with reduced ejection fraction. However, PSS-4 quartiles 2-4 (compared with the lowest quartile) were associated with incident HF with preserved ejection fraction (Q2 hazard ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.88; Q3 hazard ratio 1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.95; Q4 hazard ratio 1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.92). Notably, this association was attenuated among participants who took a statin at baseline (P for interaction = .07).Elevated perceived stress was associated with incident HF with preserved ejection fraction but not HF with reduced ejection fraction.

Background: Telemedicine use vastly expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic, with uncertain impact on cardiovascular care. quality. Objectives: To examine the association between telemedicine use and blood pressure (BP) control. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 32,727 adult patients with hypertension (HTN) seen in primary care and cardiology clinics at an urban, academic medical center from February to December, 2020. The primary outcome was poor BP control, defined as having no BP recorded OR if the last recorded BP was ≥140/90 mmHg. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between telemedicine use during the study period (none, 1 telemedicine visit, 2+ telemedicine visits) and poor BP control, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics. Results: During the study period, no BP was recorded for 486/20,745 (2.3%) patients with in-person visits only, for 1,863/6,878 (27.1%) patients with 1 telemedicine visit, and for 1,277/5,104 (25.0%) patients with 2+ telemedicine visits. After adjustment, telemedicine use was associated with poor BP control (odds ratio [OR], 2.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.94 to 2.18, p Conclusions: BP is less likely to be recorded during telemedicine visits, but telemedicine use does not negatively impact BP control when BP is recorded.

The widespread treatment of hypertension and resultant improvement in blood pressure have been major contributors to the dramatic age-specific decline in heart disease and stroke. Despite this progress, a persistent gap remains between stated public health targets and achieved blood pressure control rates. Many factors may be important contributors to the gap between population hypertension control goals and currently observed control levels. Among them is the extent to which patients adhere to prescribed treatment. The goal of this scientific statement is to summarize the current state of knowledge of the contribution of medication nonadherence to the national prevalence of poor blood pressure control, methods for measuring medication adherence and their associated challenges, risk factors for antihypertensive medication nonadherence, and strategies for improving adherence to antihypertensive medications at both the individual and health system levels.