Evaluating the Use of the Heart Age Tool in Community Pharmacies: A 4-week Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial
Svendsen, Karianne; Jacobs Jr., David R.; Mørch-Reiersen, Lisa Therese; Garstad, Kjersti W.; Henriksen, Hege Berg; Telle-Hansen, Vibeke; Retterstøl, Kjetil
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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https://hdl.handle.net/10642/8655Utgivelsesdato
2020-03-24Metadata
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Svendsen, Jacobs Jr., Mørch-Reiersen, Garstad, Henriksen, Telle-Hansen, Retterstøl. Evaluating the Use of the Heart Age Tool in Community Pharmacies: A 4-week Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. European Journal of Public Health. 2020 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa048Sammendrag
Background: Joint British Societies have developed a tool that utilizes information on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors to estimate an individual's 'heart age'. We studied if using heart age as an add-on to conventional risk communication could enhance the motivation for adapting to a healthier lifestyle resulting in improved whole-blood cholesterol and omega-3 status after 4 weeks. Methods: A total of 48 community pharmacies were cluster-randomized to use heart age+conventional risk communication (intervention) or only conventional risk communication (control) in 378 subjects after CVD risk-factor assessment. Dried blood spots were obtained with a 4-week interval to assay whole-blood cholesterol and omega-3 fatty acids. We also explored pharmacy-staff's (n=27) perceived utility of the heart age tool. Results: Subjects in the intervention pharmacies (n=137) had mean heart age 64 years and chorological age 60 years. In these, cholesterol decreased by median (interquartile range) -0.10 (-0.40, 0.35) mmol/l. Cholesterol decreased by -0.20 (-0.70, 0.30) mmol/l (P difference =0.24) in subjects in the control pharmacies (n=120) with mean chronological age 60 years. We observed increased concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids after 4 weeks, non-differentially between groups. Pharmacy-staff (n=27) agreed that heart age was a good way to communicate CVD risk, and most (n=25) agreed that it appeared to motivate individuals to reduce elevated CVD risk factors. Conclusions: The heart age tool was considered a convenient and motivating communication tool by pharmacy-staff. Nevertheless, communicating CVD risk as heart age was not more effective than conventional risk communication alone in reducing whole-blood cholesterol levels and improving omega-3 status.