Evidence-based interventions in primary care following acute coronary syndrome in Australia and New Zealand: a systematic scoping review

Outcome disparities in acute coronary syndrome patients from rural versus urban settings: A narrative review of causes, and strategies to minimize them

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Critical elements of improving outcomes in ACS patients include timely access to acute care including prompt revascularization if indicated, and subsequent ongoing secondary prevention and risk factor modification, ideally with cardiovascular specialists. It is being increasingly realized that ACS patients from rural settings suffer from inferior outcomes compared to their urban counterparts due to factors such as delayed diagnosis, delayed access to acute care, and less accessibility to specialized follow up. This narrative review will examine the importance of timely access to care in ACS patients, particularly in ST-elevation myocardial infarction; how barriers in access to care affects outcomes in various rural populations; and strategies that have been shown to improve such access, and therefore hopefully achieve more equitable health outcomes compared to patients who live in urban settings.

Implementation of clinical audit to improve adherence to guideline-recommended therapy in acute coronary syndrome

BACKGROUND

Despite global consensus on the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), implementation of strategies to improve adherence of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remains sub-optimal, especially in developing countries. Thus, we aimed to assess the effect of clinical pharmacist-led clinical audit to improve the compliance of discharge prescriptions in patients admitted with ACS. It is a prospective clinical audit of ACS patients which was carried out for 12 months. The discharge prescriptions were audited by clinical pharmacists for the appropriateness in the usage of statins, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), beta-blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I)/angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). A feedback report was presented every month to the cardiologists involved in the patient care, and the trend in the adherence to GDMT was analyzed over 12 months.

RESULTS

The discharge prescriptions of 1072 ACS patients were audited for the justifiable and non-justifiable omissions of mandated drugs. The first-month audit revealed unreasonable omissions of DAPT, statin, ACE-I/ARB, and beta-blockers in 1%, 0%, 14%, and 11% respectively, which reduced to nil by the end of the 11th month of the audit-feedback program. This improvement remained unchanged until the end of the 12th month.

CONCLUSIONS

The study revealed that periodic clinical audit significantly improves adherence to GDMT in patients admitted with ACS.

Effectiveness of nurse-led counselling and education on self-efficacy of patients with acute coronary syndrome: A randomized controlled trial

Aim

Adherence to lifestyle recommendations, medical regimens and cardiac rehabilitation is poor among patients with acute coronary syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of nurse‐led counselling and education using a person‐centred care approach on short‐term cardiac self‐efficacy in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Design

A parallel, two‐armed, randomized controlled trial was conducted.

Methods

One hundred twenty patients who were hospitalized with diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome were selected and randomly assigned into intervention (n = 60) or control (n = 60) groups. In the intervention group, in addition to routine care, the nurse‐led counselling and education programme included two face‐to‐face sessions, two telephone counselling and education sessions, using the person‐centred care approach. Participants in the control group received only routine care. Data were collected using the cardiac self‐efficacy scale before the intervention and 1 month after discharge.

Results

After the intervention, we found that cardiac self‐efficacy, including the perceived self‐efficacy to control symptoms and maintain function, was statistically significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group.

Cardiac Rehabilitation of Patients with Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Undergoing Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in a Han Population in Northern China: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been associated with improved cardiac function in cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to explore the factors associated with cardiac function and CR.

Methods

This prospective cohort study had 473 STEMI patients admitted for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who were divided into a CR group (group A, n = 104) and a non-CR group (group B, n = 369) based on whether they could complete CR. Patients’ clinical features, such as age, hyperlipidemia, family history of premature coronary heart disease (FHPCHD), smoking history, body mass index (BMI, kg/m²), number of diseased vessels, arrhythmia during PCI, N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) at 6 months after PCI were compared. Then, the clinical characteristics of patients were further analyzed according to those with MACEs (n = 78) and those without MACEs (n = 395).

Results

After CR of 6 months, NT-proBNP levels (p = 0.027), 6-MWD (meter, P = 0.000), LVEF (P = 0.000) were significantly improved in group A compared to group B, but not for SMWA (P = 0.875). Multivariate analysis indicated that even though patients in group A (OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.132–8.274, p = 0.03) have a higher incidence of hyperlipidemia, their MACEs (OR 0.191, 95% CI 0.038–0.961, p = 0.05) at 6 months were significantly lower than in group B, mainly because the average patient low age (<65 years, OR 0.917, 95% CI 0.859–0.979, p = 0.01) and significant improvement of 6-MWD (OR 7.999, 95% CI 4.342–14.737, P = 0.00) and the LVEF at 6 months (OR 1.112, 95% CI 1.072–1.154, p = 0.00). Further analysis based on the MACES outcomes showed that there were 6 factors associated with the occurrence of MACEs, they were age >65 years (OR 1.032, 95% CI 1.009–1.009, p = 0.007), smoking history (OR 0.485, 95% CI 0.238–0.989, p = 0.046), education level (OR 2.646, 95% CI 1.370–5.108, p = 0.004), 6-MWD (OR 1.688, 95% CI 1.104–2.811, p = 0.044), LVEF (OR 0.958, 95% CI 0.926–0.991, p = 0.013) and CR (OR 6.271, 95% CI 2.236–17.590, p = 0.000).

Conclusion

CR, including exercise rehabilitation, is a beneficial option to reduce MACEs in STEMI patients treated with primary PCI.

Effect of Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation on Left Ventricular Function in Asian Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

(1) Background: The effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on left ventricular function in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are important but poorly understood. (2) Purpose: To evaluate the effects of an exercise-based CR program (exercise training alone or combined with psychosocial or educational interventions) compared with usual care on left ventricular function in patients with AMI receiving PCI. (3) Data sources, study selection and data extraction: We searched PubMed, WEB OF SCIENCE, EMBASE, EBSCO, PsycINFO, LILACS and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases (CENTRAL) up to 12th June 2021. Article selected were randomized controlled trials and published as a full-text article. Meta-analysis was conducted with the use of the software Review manager 5.4. (4) Data synthesis: Eight trials were included in the meta-analysis, of which three trials were rated as high risk of bias. A significant improvement was seen in the exercise-based CR group compared with the control group regarding left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (std. mean difference = 1.33; 95% CI:0.43 to 2.23; p = 0.004), left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) (std. mean difference = −3.05; 95% CI: −6.00 to −0.09; p = 0.04) and left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) (std. mean difference = −0.40; 95% CI: −0.80 to −0.01; p = 0.04). Although exercise-based CR had no statistical effect in decreasing left ventricular end-systolic dimension (LVESD) and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), it showed a favorable trend in relation to both. (5) Conclusions: Exercise-based CR has beneficial effects on LV function and remodeling in AMI patients treated by PCI.

Comparing the association of cardiovascular nursing care with blood pressure and length of stay of in-patients with coronary artery disease in Wuhan, China

Background

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Comorbidity-like hypertension has been among the major risks of coronary artery disease. Recent evidence identified multiple benefits of cardiovascular nursing care to coronary patients. However, little has been appraised on benefits regarding patients' blood pressure control and length of hospitalisation.

Objective

To compare the association of cardiovascular nursing care delivered to coronary artery patients with patients' blood pressure and length of stay.

Methods

Records based retrospective design was applied at a large teaching hospital in Wuhan, China. SPSS 21 version was used for data entry and analysis with univariate and multivariate logistic regression models for comparing study variables.

Results

Of 300 patients, 224 (74.7%) were known to be hypertensive and admitted with subnormal blood pressure. Cardiovascular nursing care like “assess to grade pain severity on 1–10 scale” and “counsel patient to cope with stress” were six and three times more likely to contribute improved patients' blood pressure (AOR=5.8; 95%CI: 2.8–12.2, p=0.001) and (AOR=3.1; 95%CI: 1.2–7.8, p=0.015) respectively. No significant difference with length of stay (p>0.05).

Conclusion

There is a possibility of coronary artery patients to recover with normal blood pressure following reception of evidence-based cardiovascular nursing care.

Prescription Rates for Antiplatelet Therapy (APT) in Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) - What Benchmark are We Aiming at in Continuing Medical Education (CME)?

Physicians always aim to improve their patients' health. CME should be designed not only to provide knowledge transfer, but also to influence clinical decision-making and to close performance gaps. In aretrospective study we analysed prescription rates for APT in 254,932 CAD patients (male: 64.4%), treated in atotal of 3,405 practices in 2019 in aDMP in the region of North Rhine, Germany. Analyses were run for the whole study population stratified by sex as well as for subgroups of patients suffering from myocardial infarction/acute coronary syndrome, or who have been treated with percutaneous coronary intervention or bypass surgery. Patients mean age was 72.7 ± 11.2 years (mean ± 1SD), mean duration of DMP participation was 7.2 ± 4.7 years, and mean cumulative number of DMP visits was 27 ± 17. APT prescription rates were 85.0% in male and 78.8% in female CAD patients. In subgroups of male CAD patients APT prescription rates were between 89.7% and 92.8%, in the same subgroups of female CAD patients the corresponding rates were between 87.8% and 92.0%. Rates for amissing APT prescription per practice were between .0044% and .0062% for male and female CAD patients, respectively. Rates for amissing APT prescription per practice and DMP visit were .0002% for both sexes. These results suggest that a DMP can achieve high attainment rates for APT in CAD. To further improve attainment rates, consideration of absolute numbers of eligible patients per practice or physician is probably more appropriate than expression of performance as percentage values. This is especially true if attainment rates show substantial variations between subgroups, if subgroups show substantial variation in size, if attainment rates are already in the magnitude of 80% or higher, and if there are disparities in the evidence base underlying treatment recommendations related to subgroups.

Challenges in Managing Acute Cardiovascular Diseases and Follow Up Care in Rural Areas: A Narrative Review

This narrative review explores relevant literature that is related to the challenges in implementing evidence-based management for clinicians in rural and remote areas, while primarily focussing on management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and follow up care. A targeted literature search around rural/urban differences in the management of ACS, cardiovascular disease, and cardiac rehabilitation identified multiple issues that are related to access, including the ability to pay, transport and geographic distances, delays in patients seeking care, access to diagnostic testing, and timely treatment in an appropriate facility. Workforce shortages or lack of ready access to relevant expertise, cultural differences, and complexity that arises from comorbidities and from geographical isolation amplified diagnostic challenges. Given the urgency in management of ACS, rural clinicians must act quickly to achieve optimal patient outcomes. New technologies and quality improvement approaches enable better access to rapid diagnosis, as well as specialist input and care. Achieving an uptake of cardiac rehabilitation in rural and remote settings poses challenges that may reduce with the use of alternative models to centre-based rehabilitation and use of modern technologies. Expediting improvement in cardiovascular outcomes and reducing rural disparities requires system changes and that clinicians embrace attention to prevention, emergency management, and follow up care in rural contexts.

Influences on the access to and use of formal community care by people with dementia and their informal caregivers: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

The literature describes the obstacles to sufficient care faced by people with dementia and their informal caregivers. Although factors influencing access and utilisation are frequently studied, the body of knowledge lacks an overview of aspects related to influence. The frequently used Behavioural Model of Health Care Use (BM) could be used to structure and explain these aspects. An adaptation of the BM emphasises psychosocial influences and appears to enrich the understanding of the use of long-term care for dementia.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review with the aim of providing an overview of the aspects influencing the access to and utilisation of formal community care in dementia. Our search covered the PubMed, CINAHL, Social Science Citation Index and PsychInfo databases, as well as grey literature. Two researchers assessed the full texts for eligibility. A data extraction form was developed and tested. We analysed the main topics investigated by the studies and mapped and described the investigated psychosocial aspects according to the BM after narratively summarising the findings. We used the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) to critically appraise the included studies.

RESULTS

A total of 94 studies were included: n = 55 with quantitative designs, 35 with qualitative designs and four with mixed methods. The studies investigated different services, mainly focusing on health care services. One third of the studies provided information regarding the severity of dementia. The most frequently investigated main topics were ethnicity and attitudes towards services. Psychosocial aspects were frequently investigated, although few studies considered the perspectives of people with dementia. Approximately half of the studies reported a theoretical framework. The adapted BM facilitated the structuring and description of psychosocial aspects. However, this instrument did not address topics beyond the scope of psychosocial aspects, such as sociodemographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

The access to and utilisation of formal community care for dementia can only be partly explained by individual influencing aspects. Therefore, a theoretical framework would likely help to describe this complex subject. Our findings indicate that the psychosocial categories of the adapted BM enriched the original BM, and that people with dementia should more often be included in healthcare service research to ensure a better understanding of the barriers to accessing formal community care.