Role of perceived heart risk factors by outpatient population in predicting cardiovascular risk

Characterizing the Impact of Disorders of the Gut-Brain Interaction on Mental and Physical Health Functioning Among Spanish-Speaking Latino Adults Living in the United States

INTRODUCTION

Latino individuals are underrepresented in the disorders of the gut-brain interaction (DGBI) literature, and no work has explored how disorders of the gut-brain interaction affect health and well-being in this group.

METHODS

This study sought to explore how disorders of the gut-brain interaction affect health factors in a sample of Latino individuals (N = 292; 80.80% female; M age = 37.65 years, SD = 11.98) with (n = 60) and without (n = 232) a disorder of the gut-brain interaction based on current Rome Foundation diagnostic criteria (Rome IV).

RESULTS

DGBI was associated with increased pain intensity, pain disability, cardiovascular risk, depressive symptoms, and anxiety/panic symptoms and lower physical health-related quality of life and mental health-related quality of life controlling for age, sex, and nativity.

DISCUSSION

Better understanding mental health and treatment-seeking behaviors among Latino individuals may help clinical gastroenterologists engage their Latino patients to a greater extent and thus provide higher quality of care.

Protocol of the Inner Mongolian Healthy Aging Study (IMAGINS): a longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of premature mortality and burden of diseases in the world. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located in northern China, constitute 17.66% individuals with Mongolian, which have unique diet and lifestyles. Therefore, the Inner Mongolian Healthy Aging Study (IMAGINS) was designed to explore risk factors for chronic diseases and evaluate the effectiveness of health management on CVDs in population at high-risk.

METHODS

The IMAGINS is an ongoing and prospective cohort study of men and women aged ≥35 years from Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, northern China. This study performed in investigating risk factors for CVDs, screening and providing health management strategy for high-risk population of CVDs. The IMAGINS began in September 2015 and scheduled to recruiting and follow-up outcome until 2030. For general population, a long-term follow-up will be conducted every 5 years to collect the information above and data on clinical outcomes. For high-risk population, comprehensive health managements were performed and scheduled to follow-up annually. All IMAGINS participants are followed for incident CVDs and death.

DISCUSSION

The IMAGINS is designed to increase understanding how cardiovascular-related risk factors contribute to the development of CVDs and the positive effect of health management strategy for high-risk CVD participants. Key features of this study include (i) a carefully characterized cohort between high risk of CVDs and non-high risk population; (ii) detailed measurement of CVDs risk factors and health management strategies for high risk population; (iii) long-term follow-up of CVDs and death. The IMAGINS represents a good research opportunity to investigate clinical and genetic factors in high-risk population, might providing basis for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

A Systematic Review of the Instruments Used for Evaluating Causal Beliefs and Perceived Heart Risk Factors

Background: The etiologies and causal beliefs of heart disease are considered one of the 5 dimensions of health self-regulatory model. Thus, the present study aimed to review the literature and screen the appropriate tools for evaluating the causal beliefs and perceived heart risk factors (PHRFs). Methods: The review samples encompassed all published articles from 1992 to March 2017. A systematic search was conducted across 6 databases: the Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, EBSCO, ProQuest, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. The qualitative evaluation of the articles was examined using the checklists of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) by 2 independent investigators. After the application of the criteria for inclusion in the study, 22 studies were obtained according to the PRISMA guidelines. Results: A total of 10 504 (50.5% male) patients at an average age of 57.85±10.75 years participated in 22 studies under review. The results of the systematic review showed that 22 tools were available to measure PHRFs. The instruments were categorized into 4 groups of valid scales (6 studies), invalid questionnaires (6 studies), checklists (3 studies), and open-ended single items (7 studies). Only 23.2% of the measuring instruments were sufficiently valid. Conclusion: The results of this systematic review showed that a limited number of valid tools were available to measure PHRFs. Considering the importance of studying cardiac patients' perception of the etiology of disease and the paucity of standards and valid grading scales, it seems necessary to design and provide tools with broader content that can cover all aspects of patients' beliefs.