Low health literacy: Implications for managing cardiac patients in practice.

There are limited data on racial and ethnic disparities related to quality of life (QoL) and health literacy in adults with multiple cardiac conditions. This article evaluates the relationship between health literacy and QoL among patients with cardiac conditions in a multiethnic community in New York City.

Electrocardiographic Correlates of Acute Allograft Rejection Among Heart Transplant Recipients.

Background: Acute allograft rejection appears to be associated with increases in QT/QTc intervals.

Objectives: To determine the relationship between acute allograft rejection and electrocardiogram changes in patients undergoing an orthotopic heart transplant.

Methods: The study population comprised 220 adult patients undergoing heart transplant and enrolled in the NEW HEART study.

A single-center randomized, controlled trial investigating the efficacy of a mHealth ECG technology intervention to improve the detection of atrial fibrillation: the iHEART study protocol.

Background: Atrial fibrillation is a major public health problem and is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, affecting an estimated 2.7 million Americans. The true prevalence of atrial fibrillation is likely underestimated because episodes are often sporadic; therefore, it is challenging to detect and record an occurrence in a "real world" setting.

Clinical and gender differences in heart transplant recipients in the NEW HEART study.

Background: Little attention has focused on gender differences in cardiac comorbidities and outcomes in patients undergoing orthotropic heart transplant.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences at baseline and during follow-up among heart transplant patients.

Methods: An observational cohort within the NEW HEART study was evaluated to determine gender differences in relation to age, coexisting cardiac comorbidities, and outcomes.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Young Urban Women.

Background: Although young women are presumed to have low cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality, the mortality benefits secondary to ischemic heart disease have plateaued among young women, <50 years.

Materials And Methods: Women, 18-49 years (n = 595) among all participants (n = 1,045) in the Columbia University Heart Health in Action Study, were assessed for CVD risk burden, that is, presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, current tobacco use, hyperlipidemia, physical inactivity, and/or obesity. Anthropometrics (height, weight, waist circumference, and body mass index [BMI]); demographics; socioeconomic status, CVD risk factors, body size perception; knowledge and awareness of CV disease; and attitudes toward lifestyle perception were determined.

Cardiac genetic testing: a single-center pilot study of a Dominican population.

The impact of undergoing genetic testing in a Dominican population is not well understood. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the psychological well-being and perceived cardiac risk among Dominicans who underwent genetic testing. Participants completed a qualitative interview and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire after cardiac genetic testing.

Size misperception among overweight and obese families.

Background: Perception of body size is a key factor driving health behavior. Mothers directly influence children's nutritional and exercise behaviors. Mothers of ethnic minority groups and lower socioeconomic status are less likely to correctly identify young children as overweight or obese.

Assessing Health Literacy in Urban Patients With Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators and Pacemakers.

Functional health literacy (FHL) has become an increasingly prevalent topic of discussion in patient health and well-being. Although FHL has been studied in a variety of populations, it has not been investigated in patients with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).The purpose of this study was to evaluate FHL in a primarily older, urban-dwelling ICD/pacemaker population.

The effect of cardiac genetic testing on psychological well-being and illness perceptions.

Objective: To assess the effects of positive cardiac genetic diagnoses, ICD discharges, and arrhythmias on measures of psychological well-being.

Methods: Fifty-eight adults with prior cardiac genetic testing were enrolled. Patient well-being was determined using the SF-36 (QoL), HADS-A and HADS-D (anxiety/depression), and IPQ-R (patients' perceptions of illness).

Cardiovascular disease knowledge and weight perception among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women.

Background: While knowledge of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has improved, it remains low among minority women, thereby contributing to disparities and posing health challenges. Moreover, substantial numbers of women do not recognize that excess weight imposes CVD risk and increases morbidity and decreases survival. In order to test the hypothesis that CVD knowledge is reduced among overweight and obese women, CVD knowledge and weight perception was compared among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white (NHW) women.

Women at risk for cardiovascular disease lack knowledge of heart attack symptoms.

Background: It is not known whether cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk level is related to knowledge of the leading cause of death of women or heart attack symptoms.

Hypothesis: Women with higher CVD risk estimated by Framingham Risk Score (FRS) or metabolic syndrome (MS) have lower CVD knowledge.

Methods: Women visiting primary care clinics completed a standardized behavioral risk questionnaire.

Correlating perceived arrhythmia symptoms and quality of life in an older population with heart failure: a prospective, single centre, urban clinic study.

Aims And Objectives: To determine the relationship between quality of life and perceived self-reported symptoms in an older, ambulatory, urban population living with heart failure.

Background: While arrhythmias in older individuals with heart failure are well documented, the association between perceived arrhythmia symptoms and quality of life is not well-defined.

Design: Prospective, cross-sectional single-centre study.

Descriptive survey of Summer Genetics Institute nurse graduates in the USA.

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical, research, educational, and professional activities that nurses are engaged in following participation in a 2 month intramural genetics training program. An online survey was administered in 2010 to graduates of the program sponsored by the US National Institute of Nursing Research from 2000 to 2009, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. The electronic, voluntary survey was sent to 189 graduates via email.

Relationship between cardiovascular disease knowledge and race/ethnicity, education, and weight status.

Background: Inadequate cardiovascular disease (CVD) knowledge has been cited to account for the imperfect decline in CVD among women over the last 2 decades.

Hypothesis: Due to concerns that at-risk women might not know the leading cause of death or symptoms of a heart attack, our goal was to assess the relationship between CVD knowledge race/ethnicity, education, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Using a structured questionnaire, CVD knowledge, socio-demographics, risk factors, and BMI were evaluated in 681 women.

The DHHS Office on Women's Health Initiative to Improve Women's Heart Health: focus on knowledge and awareness among women with cardiometabolic risk factors.

Unlabelled: Abstract Background: The diversity of the U.S. population and disparities in the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) require that public health education strategies must target women and racial/ethnic minority groups to reduce their CVD risk factors, particularly in high-risk communities, such as women with the metabolic syndrome (MS).

The Utility of Ambulatory Electrocardiographic Monitoring for Detecting Silent Arrhythmias and Clarifying Symptom Mechanism in an Urban Elderly Population with Heart Failure and Hypertension: Clinical Implications.

Atrial and ventriclar tachyarrhythmias, as well as bradyarrhythmias, in the elderly with heart failure (HF) and/or hypertension (HTN) have been well documented. However, the frequency of these arrhythmias, whether silent or symptomatic, and their association with subsequent cardiac events has not been well defi ned in patients 65 years or older with HF and other cardiovascular risk factors. To assess the value of 2 weeks of remote, transtelephonic cardiac monitoring for detecting arrhythmias in an elderly, urban population living with HF.