Lifestyle intervention, behavioral changes, and improvement in cardiovascular risk profiles in the California WISEWOMAN project.

BACKGROUND: The Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program in California (Heart of the Family) implements lifestyle interventions to improve health behaviors while reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among low income, uninsured, or underinsured Hispanic women aged 40-64 who participate in the Cancer Detection Programs: Every Woman Counts (CDP: EWC). This study reports the first-year results of the California WISEWOMAN program. METHODS: Heart of the Family is a within-site randomized controlled study with an enhanced intervention group (EIG) and a usual care group (UCG). The study was conducted between January 2006 and June 2007 at four community health centers in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. Lifestyle counseling focusing on health behaviors was provided by bilingual, bicultural (Spanish and English) community health workers. The study examines two outcome measures: changes in health behaviors; and changes in the CVD risk profile, as measured by the 10-year probability of having a coronary heart disease (CHD) event. RESULTS: Women in the EIG group (n = 433), compared to those in the UCG group (n = 436), experienced more improvements in health behaviors, both eating habits and physical activity. The improvement in the 10-year CHD risk was greater for EIG than UCG women. Multiple regression results indicate that this improvement was significantly greater when the women's CHD risk levels were in the upper quartile at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with UCG women, women in the EIG were more likely to improve their health behaviors. The CVD risk profile, as measured by the 10-year CHD risk, improved in women with the highest baseline risk.

Pulse pressure and cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Pulse pressure (PP) has been shown to predict risk for cardiovascular events in men; however, this association has not been well established in women. Hormone replacement therapy may improve arterial compliance, but findings from cross-sectional and prospective studies report inconsistent results. We sought to examine the relationship between PP and risk for cardiovascular events, and to determine the effect of hormone therapy on PP in postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 2,763 postmenopausal women (mean age, 66 +/- 7 years [+/- SD]) with CHD in the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study, a randomized, placebo-controlled, secondary CHD prevention trial of estrogen plus progestin, were followed up on average for 4.1 years. BP was measured at baseline and annually. Mean baseline PP was 62 +/- 16 mm Hg. There were 361 myocardial infarctions (MIs) or CHD deaths, 265 hospitalizations for congestive heart failure (CHF), and 215 strokes or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Women in the highest quartile of PP at baseline had a 47% increase in risk for MI or CHD death and more than a twofold increase in risk for stroke and TIA events or hospitalization for CHF (p < 0.01 for each outcome). After adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and mean arterial pressure, PP remained significantly associated with incident stroke or TIA events (odds ratio, 1.25; p = 0.02) and hospitalizations for CHF (odds ratio, 1.31; p < 0.01) but not with MI or CHD death. After adjustment for diastolic BP, systolic BP was similarly associated with stroke or TIA (odds ratio, 1.30; p < 0.01) and hospitalized CHF (odds ratio, 1.30; p < 0.01) and was also weakly associated with risk for MI and CHD death (odds ratio, 1.18; p = 0.02). Mean PP was 1- to 2-mm Hg higher in women randomized to hormone replacement therapy vs those receiving placebo (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: PP had predictive value for CHF and stroke or TIA, but not MI or CHD death in this cohort of postmenopausal women with CHD. Use of hormone replacement therapy produced a small, statistically significant increase in PP. Further research is necessary to determine the clinical utility of PP as a potential therapeutic target.

Lipid changes on hormone therapy and coronary heart disease events in the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS).

BACKGROUND: Despite the effect of lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, combination hormone therapy did not reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS). To explore possible mechanisms, we examined the association between lipid changes and CHD outcomes among women assigned to hormone therapy. METHODS: HERS participants were postmenopausal women with previously diagnosed CHD who were randomly assigned to receive conjugated estrogens and medroxyprogesterone or identical placebo and then followed-up for an average of 4.1 years. Among women assigned to hormone therapy, associations between baseline-to-year-1 lipid level changes and CHD events were compared with the associations observed for baseline lipids using multivariate proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Among women assigned to hormone therapy, CHD events were independently predicted by baseline LDL-C levels (relative hazard [RH] 0.94 per 15.6 mg/dL decrease, 95% CI 0.88-1.01) and HDL-C levels (RH 0.89 per 5.4 mg/dL increase, 95% CI 0.81-0.99), but not by triglyceride levels (RH 1.01 per 13.2 mg/dL increase, 95% CI 0.97-1.06). CHD events were marginally associated with first-year reductions in LDL-C levels (RH 0.95 per 15.6 mg/dL decrease, 95% CI 0.86-1.04), and were not associated with increases in HDL-C levels ( RH 1.03 per 5.4 mg/dL increase, 95% CI 0.91-1.16) or triglyceride levels (RH 1.01 per 13.2 mg/dL increase, 95% CI 0.98-1.05). CONCLUSION: Changes in lipid levels with hormone therapy are not predictive of CHD outcomes in women with heart disease in the HERS trial.

Hostility predicts recurrent events among postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease.

Psychosocial characteristics may be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Whether hostility predicts recurrent coronary events is unknown. A total of 792 women in the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS) were evaluated prospectively to determine the role of hostility as a risk factor for secondary CHD events (nonfatal myocardial infarction and CHD death). The mean age of study participants was 67 years, and the average length of follow-up was 4.1 years. The study was conducted between 1993 and 1998, and all study sites were in the United States. High Cook-Medley hostility scores were associated with greater body mass index (p = 0.01) and higher levels of serum triglycerides (p = 0.05), and they were inversely associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.04), self-rated general health (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.05), and education (p = 0.001). Compared with women in the lowest hostility score quartile, women in the highest quartile were twice as likely to have had a myocardial infarction (relative hazard = 2.03, 95% confidence interval: 1.02, 4.01). The relation between hostility and CHD events was not mediated or confounded by the biologic, behavioral, and social risk factors studied. In this study, hostility was found to be an independent risk factor for recurrent CHD events in postmenopausal women.

Effect of estrogen plus progestin on progression of carotid atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women with heart disease: HERS B-mode substudy.

OBJECTIVE: The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) found no overall effect of estrogen plus progestin (compared with placebo) on coronary event rates in 2763 postmenopausal women with established coronary disease (mean 4.1 years of follow-up). In addition to the events trial, a carotid ultrasound substudy was established in 1993 to be conducted concurrently to determine whether hormone therapy affects the progression of the underlying atherosclerotic process. METHODS AND RESULTS: Within the larger HERS, a subset of 362 participants underwent carotid B-mode ultrasound examinations at baseline and the end of follow-up. Progression of carotid atherosclerosis was measured as the temporal change in intimal-medial thickness (IMT). CONCLUSIONS: IMT progressed in the hormone treatment and placebo groups, although there was no statistical difference between the rates: IMT progressed 26 microm/y (95% CI 18 to 34 microm/y) in the hormone group and 31 microm/y (95% CI 21 to 40 microm/y) in the placebo group (P=0.44). There were also no significant treatment effects when the results were examined by carotid segment or were adjusted for covariates. These data support the American Heart Association recommendation that women with established coronary disease should not initiate hormone therapy with an expectation of atherosclerotic benefit.