Skip to content

Heart to Health: A Combined Lifestyle and Medication Intervention to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Risk

A Combined Lifestyle and Medication Intervention to Reduce CVD Risk

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01245686
Enrollment
489
Registered
2010-11-22
Start date
2011-02-28
Completion date
2012-11-30
Last updated
2013-02-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cardiovascular Disease, Coronary Heart Disease

Keywords

Diet interventions, Physical activity interventions, Medication adherence, Tailored interventions

Brief summary

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the US. Every year, more than one million Americans have a heart attack, and nearly 800,000 have a stroke. In 2010, heart disease alone is expected to cost the country more than $316 billion in health care and lost productivity. Both lifestyle changes and medication can reduce the risk of CVD, and this project combines these approaches in the hopes of identifying a practical intervention for use in primary care medical offices. The project combines two previously tested interventions and updates them to meet current guidelines for diet and use of aspirin and cholesterol-controlling drugs (statins). The research team is delivering the combined intervention in two formats: web-based and counselor-based. Each format has the same content, but the web-based advice is accessed through the Internet by clients at home, a community site, or a primary care office. The other format involves sessions delivered to clients by a counselor either in person at a primary care office or over the telephone. The researchers will compare how effective each format is in reducing participants' risk of coronary heart disease. They will also determine the interventions' effect on participants' diet, physical activity, smoking status, medication adherence, and other health indicators. In addition, the team will compare the two formats' cost-effectiveness and how well the patients, office staff, and clinicians accept the interventions. Recruited from five family practices, 600 patients representing the geographic and ethnic diversity of North Carolina are taking part in this study. Half the participants are randomly assigned to the web-based intervention; the other half to the counselor-based version. Both groups will also get information on local resources, such as gyms and farmers markets, that can help participants maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALLifestyle and medication intervention

The Heart to Health Intervention combines and enhances two previously tested interventions to reduce CVD risk (a counselor-based intervention to improve lifestyle and a web-based intervention to improve medication adherence). The new lifestyle and medication adherence intervention (delivered alternately in a one-on-one counseling or web-format) includes a decision aid on heart disease risk and risk-reducing options, general education on lifestyle and medication adherence, tips for overcoming barriers to CHD risk reduction, and goal setting and specification of first steps.

Sponsors

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CollaboratorFED
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
35 Years to 79 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Established patients * Men ages 35-79 * Women ages 45-79 * History of CVD (100 participants) * CHD risk equal or greater than 10% * elevated CHD risk factor

Exclusion criteria

* non-English speaking * no phone * treatment of psychosis * history of alcohol/substance abuse within last 2 years * pregnancy, breast feeding, or anticipated pregnancy in next 18 months * history of malignancy, other than non-melanoma skin cancer, that has not been in remission or cured surgically for \>5 years * recent history (in past year) of hypoglycemic event requiring medical attention * estimated creatinine clearance less than 30 ml/min

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Predicted 10-year CHD risk4-month follow-upFramingham risk scores are well-validated and provide an absolute estimate of the likelihood of CHD events (MI, angina, and CHD death) over a 10-year time period. We will examine absolute changes in this outcome in both intervention arms. We will also examine whether this outcome varies by subgroups of the following variables: baseline level of predicted CHD risk, age, race, SES, insurance status, overall health status, numeracy, literacy, # medications, # of perceived barriers to adherence, use of the intervention, time with the intervention, study practice site, and health counselor

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Predicted 10-year CHD risk12 monthsFramingham risk scores are well-validated and provide an absolute estimate of the likelihood of CHD events (MI, angina, and CHD death) over a 10-year time period.
Use of and adherence to cardiovascular medicines4 and 12 monthsUse of cardiovascular medicines will be by self-report. Adherence to cardiovascular medicines will be measured by the 8-Item Morisky scale and a single-item specifying overall percentage adherence to cardiovascular medicines(categorical). Participants will additionally report use of and adherence to individual medicines, including aspirin, blood pressure medicine, and cholesterol medicine. Aspirin adherence will be validated by serum thromboxane b2 in a subsample of participants. Blood pressure and cholesterol medicine use will be confirmed by changes in blood pressure and cholesterol.
Dietary Intake4 and 12 monthsDietary intake will be measured through a combination of self-report and objective measures. Participants will self-report diet on two validated questionnaires: the block questionnaire (fruit and vegetable intake) and the fat quality screener. Fruit and vegetable intake will be objectively measured by serum carotenoids. Fat quality will be objectively measured using RBC membrane fatty acids.
Physical activity4 and 12 monthsPhysical activity will be measured through a combination of self-report and objective measures. Participants will report physical activity on the validated modified RESIDE questionnaire. They will additionally wear a pedometer to monitor their daily total and aerobic steps.
Smoking status4 and 12 monthsSmoking will be measured through a combination of self-report and urinary cotinine (Nicalert test strips).
Total, HDL, and direct LDL cholesterol4 and 12 monthsTotal, HDL, and direct LDL cholesterol will be measured via enzymatic calorametric testing.
Adverse events4 and 12 monthsWe will monitor the following adverse events: ED visits (self-report), hospitalizations (self-report), deaths (family report confirmed by death registry), GI bleeds (self-report), hemorrhagic stroke (self-report), musculoskeletal injury (self-report), renal dysfunction (serum creatinine), and liver dysfunction (AST).
Acceptability of the Intervention4 and 12 monthsWe will measure the acceptability of the intervention using process measures querying participants, office staff, and clinicians about the perceptions of the acceptability of the intervention and the time to deliver it.
Cost-effectiveness4 and 12 monthsWe will measure the cost-unit CHD risk reduction for the two interventions using a societal perspective.
Blood pressure4 and 12 monthsBlood pressure will be measure via standardized protocol using an oscillometric automatic monitor

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 8, 2026