Development and First Phase Evaluation of a Maternity Leave Educational Tool for Pregnant, Working Women in California.

BACKGROUND: Despite the provision of maternity leave offered to mothers, many American women fail to take leave. METHODS: We developed an evidence-based maternity leave educational tool for working women in California using participatory design. We tested its short-term efficacy with a randomized controlled trial of pregnant English-speakers (n=155). RESULTS: Among intervention participants exposed to the tool, 65% reported that they learned something new; 38% were motivated to seek more information; and 49% said it helped them plan their maternity leave. Among participants who delivered at ≥ 37 weeks gestation and said the tool helped them plan their leave, 89% took more than one week of prenatal leave, a significantly higher proportion than among controls who did not receive the tool (64%, p=0.049). Other findings favored trial participants, but were not statistically significant in this small sample. More intervention participants took some prenatal leave (80%) vs. controls (74%, p=0.44). Among participants who had returned to work when surveyed (n=50), mean postnatal leave uptake was on average 1 week longer for intervention participants vs. controls (13.3 vs. 12.2 weeks, p=0.54). CONCLUSIONS: The first-phase evaluation of this tool shows that it successfully informed women about maternity leave options, clarified complex regulations, encouraged women to seek further information and helped plan maternity leave. Compared to controls, trial participants who used the tool to plan their leave were far more likely to take prenatal leave close to term. Future evaluation of the tool when mediated by a health provider or employer is warranted.

Association of acculturation status with beliefs, barriers, and perceptions related to cardiovascular disease prevention among racial and ethnic minorities.

Acculturation has been correlated with traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between acculturation and health beliefs, barriers, and perceptions related to cardiovascular disease prevention. Racial/ethnic minority participants in the Family Intervention Trial for Heart Health were included in this analysis. Less acculturated minorities were more likely to have health beliefs that may impede prevention, have greater perceived susceptibility to disease, and believe in an external locus of control. Evaluating acculturation in clinical practice may be an opportunity to promote awareness, healthy behaviors, and prevention among immigrants.

Predictors and barriers to timely medical follow-up after cardiovascular disease risk factor screening according to race/ethnicity.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess followup practices among individuals found to have elevated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a screening and educational outreach. METHODS: Participants in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Family Intervention Trial for Heart Health (FIT Heart) who were found to have hypertension, prehypertension, suboptimal lipids and/or abnormal blood glucose were included in this study (N = 214, mean age 49 +/- 13, 64% female, 33% nonwhite). Contact was made at two weeks, six weeks and three months to determine if medical follow-up was initiated. Barriers to nonadherence were assessed. RESULTS: After two weeks, significantly more whites had medical follow up compared to nonwhites (34% vs. 20%, p = 0.04). Racial/ethnic minorities were more likely to report that not having a doctor was a barrier (30% vs. 11%, p = 0.02). Non-whites were more likely to return to the study staff for followup rather than an outside physician (32% vs. 15%, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Racial/ethnic minorities with elevated CVD risk factors may have delayed medical follow-up compared to whites, and this may be attributable to lack of access to a doctor. These data suggest that improving access to care may reduce racial/ethnic disparities in risk factor management and CVD outcomes.

A novel family-based intervention trial to improve heart health: FIT Heart: results of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Family members of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) may be at increased risk due to shared genes and lifestyle. Hospitalization of a family member with CVD may represent a "motivational moment" to take preventive action. METHODS AND RESULTS: A randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted in healthy adult family members (N=501; 66% female; 36% nonwhite; mean age, 48 years) of patients hospitalized with CVD to evaluate a special intervention (SI) with personalized risk factor screening, therapeutic lifestyle-change counseling, and progress reports to physicians versus a control intervention (CIN) on the primary outcome, mean percent change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and other risk factors. Validated dietary assessments and standardized risk factors were obtained at baseline and 1 year (94% follow-up). At baseline, for 93% of subjects, saturated fat comprised > or = 7% of total caloric intake, and 79% had nonoptimal LDL-C levels (of which 50% were unaware). There was no difference in the SI versus the CIN with respect to the mean percent change in LDL-C (-1% versus -2%, respectively; P=0.64), owing to a similar significant reduction in LDL-C in both groups (-4.4 mg/dL and -4.5 mg/dL, respectively). Diet score significantly improved in the SI versus the CIN (P=0.04). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol declined significantly in the CIN but not in the SI (-3.2% [95% CI, -5.1 to -1.3] versus +0.3% [95% CI, -1.7 to +2.4]; P=0.01). At 1 year, SI subjects were more likely than controls to exercise >3 days per week (P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The SI was not more effective than the CIN in reducing the primary end point, LDL-C. The screening process identified many family members of hospitalized patients with CVD who were unaware of their risk factors, and further work is needed to develop and test interventions to reduce their CVD risk.

Waist circumference predicts cardiometabolic and global Framingham risk among women screened during National Woman's Heart Day.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the cardiometabolic risk profiles of 6938 women (mean age 49.2 +/- 14.6 years) attending the 2005 Sister to Sister: Everyone Has a Heart Foundation free public health standardized cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor screening events in 12 cities across the United States by race/ethnicity and waist circumference. MAIN FINDINGS: Among women without a history of CVD or diabetes (n = 6327), 90% were found to have at least one major modifiable CVD risk factor, with one-third of women having three or more major risk factors. Nearly half of all women with elevated total cholesterol (> or = 200 mg/dL) or low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (< 50 mg/dL) did not report a known history of abnormal cholesterol. Among women with no history of hypertension, 16% had a blood pressure > or = 140/90 mm Hg. Unrecognized diabetes and glucose intolerance were striking among fasting women (n = 1218; 9% had a blood glucose > or = 126 mg/dL and 43% had a blood glucose > or = 100 mg/dL). In adjusted logistic regression models, women with a waist circumference > or = 35 inches were more likely to have blood pressure > or = 140/90 (OR = 1.9, p < 0.0001), total cholesterol > or = 200 mg/dL (OR = 1.2, p = 0.006), HDL-cholesterol < 50 mg/dL (OR = 2.5, p < 0.0001), fasting glucose > or = 100 mg/dL (OR = 2.0, p < 0.0001), and Framingham global risk score > or = 10%, CVD or diabetes (OR = 2.0, p < 0.0001). Waist circumference was significantly correlated with Framingham global risk (r = 0.24, p < 0.001) and number of risk factors (r = 0.24, p < 0.0001). Increased clustering of risk factors was predictive of waist size > or = 35 inches vs. < 35 inches in logistic models (p for trend > 0.0001). Among a subsample of women who underwent standardized screening for stress and depression, 62% had stress levels associated with increased cardiac risk, and 27% met criteria for clinical depression. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension, dyslipidemia, and/or impaired fasting glucose were newly identified in approximately half the women screened. Waist size significantly correlated with clustering of risk factors, global Framingham risk score, CVD and diabetes, suggesting it may be an easily measured surrogate for women at increased risk of future cardiovascular clinical events who may benefit from further assessment and intervention.