Sex matters in the association between cardiovascular health and incident dementia: evidence from real world data.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular health has been associated with dementia onset, but little is known about the variation of such association by sex and age considering dementia subtypes. We assessed the role of sex and age in the association between cardiovascular risk and the onset of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia in people aged 50-74 years. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study covering 922.973 Catalans who attended the primary care services of the Catalan Health Institute (Spain). Data were obtained from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP database). Exposure was the cardiovascular risk (CVR) at baseline categorized into four levels of Framingham-REGICOR score (FRS): low (FRS < 5%), low-intermediate (5% ≤ FRS < 7.5%), high-intermediate (7.5% ≤ FRS < 10%), high (FRS ≥ 10%), and one group with previous vascular disease. Cases of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease were identified using validated algorithms, and cases of vascular dementia were identified by diagnostic codes. We fitted stratified Cox models using age parametrized as b-Spline. RESULTS: A total of 51,454 incident cases of all-cause dementia were recorded over a mean follow-up of 12.7 years. The hazard ratios in the low-intermediate and high FRS groups were 1.12 (95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.15) and 1.55 (1.50-1.60) for all-cause dementia; 1.07 (1.03-1.11) and 1.17 (1.11-1.24) for Alzheimer's disease; and 1.34 (1.21-1.50) and 1.90 (1.67-2.16) for vascular dementia. These associations were stronger in women and in midlife compared to later life in all dementia types. Women with a high Framingham-REGICOR score presented a similar risk of developing dementia - of any type - to women who had previous vascular disease, and at age 50-55, they showed three times higher risk of developing dementia risk compared to the lowest Framingham-REGICOR group. CONCLUSIONS: We found a dose‒response association between the Framingham-REGICOR score and the onset of all dementia types. Poor cardiovascular health in midlife increased the onset of all dementia types later in life, especially in women.

Cardiovascular Risk Age Reflects Arterial Status: Middle-Aged People Showed Equivalent Arterial Stiffness to Older People in the Same Risk Category.

AIM: The concept of risk age may help overcome an excessive weight of age in cardiovascular risk functions. This study aimed to evaluate the equivalence of risk age with arterial stiffness by comparing people with increased risk age and individuals with the same chronological and risk age. In order to materialize this aim, we categorized individuals based on cardiovascular risk and compared groups with increased risk factors (other than age) and groups with normal levels. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional population-level study carried out in Girona province within the context of the REGICOR study (Girona Heart Registry). In this study, individuals aged 35-90 years who had a brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement and with no previous cardiovascular disease or peripheral arterial disease were included. Cardiovascular risk was estimated with the FRESCO (in 35-79 year-olds), SCORE2 (in 35-69 year-olds), and SCORE2-OP (in 70-90 year-olds) functions and categorized to calculate and compare (in each category) the median chronological age in the group with increased risk factors and the reference. Arterial stiffness was assessed with the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). The analyses were carried out separately by sex. RESULTS: In this study, 2499 individuals were included, with a mean age of 59.7 and 46.9% of men. Men presented worse health condition, including a higher mean cardiovascular disease risk score. Both men and women with increased levels of risk factors showed worse health condition than the respective men and women with optimal levels. In each risk category, the groups with higher risk age than chronological age (increased risk factors) were similar in baPWV values to the groups with the same chronological and risk ages (reference), who were consistently older. CONCLUSIONS: In categories with the same cardiovascular risk, the arterial stiffness of participants with a higher risk factor burden (increased risk age) matched that of older participants with the rest of the risk factors at optimal levels (same chronological and risk age). These results support the guidelines on the utilization of risk age to explain heightened cardiovascular risk, particularly among individuals in middle age.

Role of personal aptitudes as determinants of incident morbidity, lifestyles, quality of life, use of health services, and mortality (DESVELA cohort): quantitative study protocol for a prospective cohort study in a hybrid analysis.

Introduction: The healthcare and well-being of the population depend on multiple factors and should adapt to societal changes. The opposite is also occurring; society has evolved concerning the individuals' approach to their care, which includes participation in decision-making processes. In this scenario, health promotion and prevention become crucial to provide an integrated perspective in the organization and management of the health systems.Health status and well-being depend on many aspects, determinants of health, which in turn may be modulated by individual behavior. Certain models and frameworks try to study the determinants of health and individual human behaviors, separately. However, the interrelation between these two aspects has not been examined in our population.Our main objective is to analyze whether personal aptitudes related to behaviors are independently associated with the incidence of morbidity. A secondary objective will enquire whether these personal aptitudes are independently associated with lower all-cause mortality, enhanced adoption of healthy lifestyles, higher quality of life, and lower utilization of health services during follow-up. Methods: This protocol addresses the quantitative branch of a multicenter project (10 teams) for the creation of a cohort of at least 3,083 persons aged 35 to 74 years from 9 Autonomous Communities (AACC). The personal variables to evaluate are self-efficacy, activation, health literacy, resilience, locus of control, and personality traits. Socio-demographic covariates and social capital will be recorded. A physical examination, blood analysis, and cognitive evaluation will be carried out.Several sets of six Cox models (one for each independent variable) will analyze the incidence of morbidity (objective 1); all-cause mortality and the rest of the dependent variables (objective 2). The models will be adjusted for the indicated covariates, and random effects will estimate Potential heterogeneity between AACC. Discussion: The analysis of the association of certain behavioral patterns and determinants of health is essential and will contribute to improving health promotion and prevention strategies. The description of the individual elements and interrelated aspects that modulate the onset and persistence of diseases will allow the evaluation of their role as prognostic factors and contribute to the development of patient-tailored preventive measures and healthcare.Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04386135. Registered on April 30, 2020.

Axes of social inequities in COVID-19 clinical trials: A systematic review.

Objective: The representativeness of participants is crucial to ensure external validity of clinical trials. We focused on the randomized clinical trials which assessed COVID-19 vaccines to assess the reporting of age, sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity, obesity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status in the results (description of the participants' characteristics, loss of follow-up, stratification of efficacy and safety results). Methods: We searched the following databases for randomized clinical trials published before 1st February 2022: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Excerpta Medica. We included peer-reviewed articles written in English or Spanish. Four researchers used the Rayyan platform to filter citations, first reading the title and abstract, and then accessing the full text. Articles were excluded if both reviewers agreed, or if a third reviewer decided to discard them. Results: Sixty three articles were included, which assessed 20 different vaccines, mainly in phase 2 or 3. When describing the participants' characteristics, all the studies reported sex or gender, 73.0% race, ethnicity, 68.9% age groups, and 22.2% obesity. Only one article described the age of participants lost to follow-up. Efficacy results were stratified by age in 61.9%, sex or gender in 26.9%, race and/or, ethnicity in 9.5%, and obesity in 4.8% of the articles. Safety results were stratified by age in 41.0%, and by sex or gender in 7.9% of the analysis. Reporting of gender identity, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status of participants was rare. Parity was reached in 49.2% of the studies, and sex-specific outcomes were mentioned in 22.9% of the analysis, most of the latter were related to females' health. Conclusions: Axes of social inequity other than age and sex were hardly reported in randomized clinical trials that assessed COVID-19 vaccines. This undermines their representativeness and external validity and sustains health inequities.

Women with familial hypercholesterolemia phenotype are undertreated and poorly controlled compared to men.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disease that has a prevalence of approximately 1/250 inhabitants and is the most frequent cause of early coronary heart disease (CHD). We included 1.343.973 women and 1.210.671 men with at least one LDL-c measurement from the Catalan primary care database. We identified 14.699 subjects with Familial hypercholesterolemia-Phenotype (FH-P) based on LDL-c cut-off points by age (7.033 and 919 women, and 5.088 and 1659 men in primary and secondary prevention, respectively). Lipid lower therapy (LLT), medication possession ratio (MPR) as an indicator of adherence, and number of patients that reached their goal on lipid levels were compared by sex. In primary and secondary prevention, 69% and 54% of women (P = 0.001) and 64% and 51% of men (P = 0.001) were on low-to-moderate-potency LLT. Adherence to LLT was reduced in women older than 55 years, especially in secondary prevention (P = 0.03), where the percentage of women and men with LDL-c > 1.81 mmol/L were 99.9% and 98.9%, respectively (P = 0.001). Women with FH-P are less often treated with high-intensity LLT, less adherent to LLT, and have a lower probability of meeting their LDL-c goals than men, especially in secondary prevention.

SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk screening for safer social events: a non-randomised controlled study.

There is an ongoing debate on the implementation of the COVID-19 passport throughout Europe. We sought to build and test a feasible prevention strategy to ensure low SARS-CoV transmission risk in public events. We conducted a non-randomised controlled study. The intervention group obtained a confidential digital certificate of very low capacity for transmitting SARS-CoV-2 and attended socio-cultural events in Girona (Spain) between 1 April and 21 May 2021. The primary care services and a network of pharmacies cooperated in providing the certification. A group of non-attendees was randomly selected from pseudonymised health records as controls. We estimated the incidences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and recorded the challenges in the process. Follow-up was complete for 1351 participants, who were matched with 4050 controls. Mean age of the study population was 31.1 years, and 53% of participants were women. Incidence rates of SARS-CoV infection at 14 days in the group of attendees and non-attendees were 15.9 and 17.7 per 100,000 person-days, respectively; the difference between incidences was - 1.8 (95% CI - 22.8, 19.3). Implementation problems were minor, and 89.2% of respondents to a survey were satisfied with the process. The incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection was not different in the intervention and control groups. These results are in favour of establishing a COVID-19 certificate to attend public events, and connote feasibility of implementation at a population level.

[Public funding of health research on LGTBIQ+population in Spain]. / La financiación pública de la investigación en salud LGTBIQ+ en España.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the public funding of research on LGTBIQ+health in Spain. METHOD: We conducted an observational and descriptive study. We sought research projects dealing with LGTBIQ+health funded by the research projects grant from the Instituto Carlos III from 2013 to 2019. We consulted the webpage and the FIS portal and we identified projects that included LGTB community, totally or partially. We estimated the absolute and relative frequencies of LGTBIQ+projects in relation to total funded projects; and we described the LGTBIQ+funded projects by year of funding, topics, LGTBIQ+subpopulation, or funding. RESULTS: Only 0,4% (n=16) of 4404 funded projects included -totally or partially- LGTBIQ+community, which represents only 0,3% of the funding. LGTBIQ+projects mainly focused on men who have sex with men (n=14) and the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) (n=11). The number of funded LGTBIQ+projects decreased from 2013 (n=6) to 2019 (n=0). CONCLUSIONS: Research projects on LGTBIQ+health are scarce in Spain. Current funding for research on LGTBIQ+health is insufficient to care for population other than HIV and men within LGTBIQ+. There is a compelling necessity to promote the LGTBIQ+health research to mitigate health disparities, to offer inclusive health services, and to improve healthcare of about 3 million LGTBIQ+people living in Spain.

Impact of residential greenness on myocardial infarction in the population with diabetes: A sex-dependent association?

Living in urban areas with abundant greenness might provide health benefits in general population. Literature suggests that sex/gender plays a role in the association between greenness and health outcomes. But the impact of greenness in populations with moderate to high cardiovascular risk, such as persons with diabetes, is still unknown. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between urban greenness and myocardial infarction incidence in persons with type 2 diabetes in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), and seek potential gender/sex differences in this association. This retrospective cohort study is based on data from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP database). We used Cox models to estimate if a 0.01 increase in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at census tract level was associated to reduced risk of developing a myocardial infarction. Models were adjusted by demographic and clinical characteristics at individual level, and by environmental and socioeconomic variables at census tract level. Amongst 41,463 persons with diabetes and 154,803.85 person-years of follow-up, we observed 449 incident cases of acute myocardial infarction. For each 0.01 increment in NDVI the risk of developing a myocardial infarction decreased by 6% (Hazard Ratio, HR = 0.94; 95%CI, 0.89-0.99) in the population with diabetes. When stratifying by sex, we observed a significant association only in men (HR = 0.91; 95%CI, 0.86-0.97). People with diabetes living in urban greener areas might benefit from reduced cardiovascular risk, specially men. We observed sex/gender disparities, which could be related to different exposures and activities performed in green spaces between men and women. Further studies are needed to confirm sex/gender disparities between greenness exposure and cardiovascular outcomes. Our findings contribute to improve the health of people with diabetes who should be recommended to spent time and exercise in green areas.

Individuals With SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the First and Second Waves in Catalonia, Spain: Retrospective Observational Study Using Daily Updated Data.

BACKGROUND: A description of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection comparing the first and second waves could help adapt health services to manage this highly transmissible infection. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the epidemiology of individuals with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the characteristics of patients with a positive test comparing the first and second waves in Catalonia, Spain. METHODS: This study had 2 stages. First, we analyzed daily updated data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals from Girona (Catalonia). Second, we compared 2 retrospective cohorts of patients with a positive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction or rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2. The severity of patients with a positive test was defined by their admission to hospital, admission to intermediate respiratory care, admission to the intensive care unit, or death. The first wave was from March 1, 2020, to June 24, 2020, and the second wave was from June 25, 2020, to December 8, 2020. RESULTS: The numbers of tests and cases were lower in the first wave than in the second wave (26,096 tests and 3140 cases in the first wave versus 140,332 tests and 11,800 cases in the second wave), but the percentage of positive results was higher in the first wave than in the second wave (12.0% versus 8.4%). Among individuals with a positive diagnostic test, 818 needed hospitalization in the first wave and 680 in the second; however, the percentage of hospitalized individuals was higher in the first wave than in the second wave (26.1% versus 5.8%). The group that was not admitted to hospital included older people and those with a higher percentage of comorbidities in the first wave, whereas the characteristics of the groups admitted to hospital were more alike. CONCLUSIONS: Screening systems for SARS-CoV-2 infection were scarce during the first wave, but were more adequate during the second wave, reflecting the usefulness of surveillance systems to detect a high number of asymptomatic infected individuals and their contacts, to help control this pandemic. The characteristics of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first and second waves differed substantially; individuals in the first wave were older and had a worse health condition.

Time from electrocardiographic diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction to guidewire crossing in patients transferred to a hospital for primary angioplasty: factors associated with delay. / Factores asociados a retrasos de tiempo desde el electrocardiograma diagnóstico hasta el paso de guía en el infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del segmento ST transferido para angioplastia primaria

OBJECTIVES: To identify predictors of primary angioplasty delay in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) transported from out-of-hospital sites or from hospitals without percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) suites. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of cases between 2008 and 2018 in a university hospital receiving patients diagnosed with STEMI who required a PCI. We performed linear and multivariate regression analyses to identify factors that predicted delay in interpreting a diagnostic electrocardiogram (ECG) until the guidewire passed the lesion (diagnosis-guidewire-crossing time). RESULTS: A total of 1039 cases were studied; 296 patients (28.4%) had delays of more than 120 minutes between STEMI diagnosis and guidewire crossing. Factors associated with PCI delay were advanced age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04]), severe heart failure on admission (OR = 2.28; 95% CI, 1.23-4.22), history of cardiac bypass surgery (OR = 10.01; 95% CI, 2.60-41.81), out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OR = 4.34; 95% CI, 1.84-10.32), lateral ischemia (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.06-2.51), first medical attention in a hospital without a PCI suite (OR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.05-2.21), first medical attention outside regular working hours (OR = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.06-2.02), and distance in kilometers to a PCI suite (OR = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with STEMI who required transport to a hospital with a PCI suite experienced primary angioplasty delays. Delays were related to logistical and clinical factors as well as to infarction characteristics.

OBJETIVO: Identificar variables predictoras del retraso hasta la angioplastia primaria, en los pacientes con infarto agudo de miocardio con elevación del ST (IAMEST) trasladados desde el medio extrahospitalario o desde hospitales sin hemodinámica. METODO: Estudio de cohortes, retrospectivo, realizado entre 2008 y 2018 en un hospital universitario receptor de pacientes con diagnóstico de IAMEST y que requirieron angioplastia primaria. Se realizó un análisis multivariable de regresión logística y lineal para identificar variables predictoras de demora de tiempo de electrocardiograma (ECG) diagnóstico hasta el paso de guía. RESULTADOS: Se incluyeron 1.039 pacientes en el estudio. Doscientos noventa y seis pacientes (28,4%) presentaban tiempos ECG diagnóstico-paso de guía > 120 minutos. Las variables asociadas a tiempos prolongados de angioplastia primaria fueron la edad avanzada [odds ratio (OR) = 1,02; IC 95%: 1,01-1,04] la insuficiencia cardiaca grave al ingreso (OR = 2,28; IC 95%: 1,23-4,22), la cirugía cardiaca previa de bypass (OR = 10,01; IC 95%: 2,60-41,81), la muerte súbita extrahospitalaria recuperada (OR = 4,34; IC 95%: 1,84-10,32), la localización lateral del infarto (OR = 1,64; IC 95%: 1,06-2,51), el primer contacto con hospital sin disponibilidad de hemodinámica (OR = 1,52; IC 95%: 1,05- 2,21), la atención fuera de horas (OR = 1,46; IC 95%: 1,06-2,02) y finalmente la distancia en kilómetros al centro con hemodinámica (OR = 1,04; IC 95%: 1,03-1,05). CONCLUSIONES: En los pacientes con IAMEST que requirieron traslado a un centro con hemodinámica, la demora en la realización de la angioplastia primaria se relacionó con factores clínicos, con características del infarto y logísticas.

Extreme diurnal temperature range and cardiovascular emergency hospitalisations in a Mediterranean region.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of extreme diurnal temperature range (DTR) on cardiovascular morbidity in Mediterranean regions remains uncertain. We aimed to analyse the impact of extreme low DTR (stable temperature) or high DTR (changeable temperature) on cardiovascular hospitalisations in Catalonia (Southern Europe). METHODS: We conducted a self-controlled case series study using whole-year data from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care database and 153 weather stations from the Catalan Meteorological Service. The outcome was first emergency hospitalisation. Monthly DTR percentiles were used to define extreme DTR as low (DTR 95th percentile). We assessed two effects: same-day (1-day exposure, coinciding with the extreme DTR episode) and cumulative (3-day exposure, adding two subsequent days). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated adjusted by age, season and air pollution. Stratified analyses by gender, age or cardiovascular type and regions are provided. RESULTS: We computed 121 206 cardiovascular hospitalisations from 2006 to 2013. The IRR was 1.032 (95% CI 1.005 to 1.061) for same day and 1.024 (95% CI 1.006 to 1.042) for cumulative effects of extreme high DTR. The impact was significant for stroke and heart failure, but not for coronary heart disease. Conversely, extreme low DTR did not increase cardiovascular hospitalisations. CONCLUSIONS: Extreme high DTR increased the incidence of cardiovascular hospitalisations, but not extreme low DTR. Same-day effects of extreme high DTR were stronger than cumulative effects. These findings contribute to better understand the impact of outdoor temperature on health, and to help defining public health strategies to mitigate such impact.

Changes in lifestyle resulting from confinement due to COVID-19 and depressive symptomatology: A cross-sectional a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The measures adopted to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in several countries included mobility and social restrictions that produced an immediate impact on the lifestyle of their inhabitants. METHODS: We assessed the association between the consequences of these measures and depressive symptomatology using a population-based sample of 692 individuals aged 18 or over from an ongoing study in the province of Girona (Catalonia, Spain). Participants responded to a telephone-based survey that included questions related to the consequences of confinement and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptomatology. Multivariate logistic and linear regressions were used to identify which changes in lifestyle resulting from confinement were independently associated with a possible depression episode and depressive symptomatology. RESULTS: The prevalence of a possible depressive episode during the confinement was 12.7% (95% CI = 10.3-15.4). An adverse work situation, expected economic distress, self-reported worsening of the mental health and of the dietary pattern, and worries about a relative's potential infection were variables related to an increased risk of having a possible depressive episode. The changes in lifestyle accounted for 32% of the variance of the PHQ-9 score. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate an association of the job situation, the expected negative economic consequences, the perceived worsening of health and habits, and the worries about COVID-19 infection with depressive symptomatology during the confinement.

Is it time to use real-world data from primary care in Alzheimer's disease?

BACKGROUND: The analysis of real-world data in clinical research is rising, but its use to study dementia subtypes has been hardly addressed. We hypothesized that real-world data might be a powerful tool to update AD epidemiology at a lower cost than face-to-face studies, to estimate the prevalence and incidence rates of AD in Catalonia (Southern Europe), and to assess the adequacy of real-world data routinely collected in primary care settings for epidemiological research on AD. METHODS: We obtained data from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) database, which contains anonymized information of > 80% of the Catalan population. We estimated crude and standardized incidence rates and prevalences (95% confidence intervals (CI)) of AD in people aged at least 65 years living in Catalonia in 2016. RESULTS: Age- and sex-standardized prevalence and incidence rate of AD were 3.1% (95%CI 2.7-3.6) and 4.2 per 1000 person-years (95%CI 3.8-4.6), respectively. Prevalence and incidence were higher in women and in the oldest people. CONCLUSIONS: Our incidence and prevalence estimations were slightly lower than the recent face-to-face studies conducted in Spain and higher than other analyses of electronic health data from other European populations. Real-world data routinely collected in primary care settings could be a powerful tool to study the epidemiology of AD.

Levels of ankle-brachial index and the risk of diabetes mellitus complications.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to compare the association of categorized ankle-brachial index (ABI) with mortality and complications of diabetes in persons with no symptoms of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and in primary cardiovascular disease prevention. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of persons with type 2 diabetes aged 35-85 years, from 2006 to 2011. Data were obtained from the Sistema d'Informació per al Desenvolupament de la Investigació en Atenció Primària (SIDIAPQ). Participants had an ABI measurement that was classified into six categories. For each category of ABI, we assessed the incidence of mortality; macrovascular complications of diabetes: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), ischemic stroke, and a composite of these two; and microvascular complications of this metabolic condition: nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy. We also estimated the HRs for these outcomes by ABI category using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Data from 34 689 persons with type 2 diabetes were included. The mean age was 66.2; 51.5% were men; and the median follow-up was 6.0 years. The outcome with the highest incidence was nephropathy, with 24.4 cases per 1000 person-years in the reference category of 1.1≤ABI≤1.3. The incidences in this category for mortality and AMI were 15.4 and 4.1, respectively. In the Cox models, low ABI was associated with increased risk and was significant from ABI lower than 0.9; below this level, the risk kept increasing steeply. High ABI (over 1.3) was also associated with significant increased risk for most outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The studied categories of ABI were associated with different risks of type 2 diabetes complications in persons asymptomatic for PAD, who were in primary cardiovascular prevention. These findings could be useful to optimize preventive interventions according to the ABI category in this population.

Derivation and validation of SIDIAP-FHP score: A new risk model predicting cardiovascular disease in familial hypercholesterolemia phenotype.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Assessment of individual cardiovascular risk, distinguishing primary and secondary prevention, would improve the clinical management of the population with familial hypercholesterolemia. We aimed to develop and validate two risk functions to predict incident and recurrent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in a primary care-based population with familial hypercholesterolemia phenotype (FHP), and to compare their predictive capacity with that of the SpAnish Familial hypErcHolEsterolemiA cohoRT (SAFEHEART) risk equation (SAFEHEART-RE). METHODS: Data from the Catalan primary care system database (SIDIAP) of patients ≥18 years old with FHP in 2006-2013 were used to develop and validate two risk functions to predict incident and recurrent ASCVD. A validation dataset was also used to compare the model predictive capacity to that of SAFEHEART-RE. RESULTS: The new model (SIDIAP-FHP) included age, diabetes, smoking, sex (male), hypertension, and baseline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the primary prevention cohort and age, diabetes, smoking, and disease characteristics (progressive, recent, polyvascular, or included myocardial infarction) in the secondary prevention cohort. The models demonstrated a fair fit: C-Statistic: 0.71 (95%CI:0.68-0.75) in primary prevention and 0.65 (95%CI:0.60-0.70) in secondary prevention (higher than that of SAFEHEART-RE: 0.64 [95%CI:0.60-0.68] and 0.55 [95%CI:0.51-0.59], respectively; both p < 0.01). The Brier scores obtained with the SIDIAP-FHP score were significantly lower than that obtained with SAFEHEART-RE in both the primary and secondary prevention cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The SIDIAP-FHP score provides accurate ASCVD risk estimates for primary and secondary prevention in the FHP population, with better predictive capacity than that of SAFEHEART-RE in this general population, especially in persons with previous ASCVD.

How well can electronic health records from primary care identify Alzheimer's disease cases?

BACKGROUND: Electronic health records (EHR) from primary care are emerging in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research, but their accuracy is a concern. We aimed to validate AD diagnoses from primary care using additional information provided by general practitioners (GPs), and a register of dementias. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study obtained data from the System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP). Three algorithms combined International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical codes to identify AD cases in SIDIAP. GPs evaluated dementia diagnoses by means of an online survey. We linked data from the Register of Dementias of Girona and from SIDIAP. We estimated the positive predictive value (PPV) and sensitivity and provided results stratified by age, sex and severity. RESULTS: Using survey data from the GPs, PPV of AD diagnosis was 89.8% (95% CI: 84.7-94.9). Using the dataset linkage, PPV was 74.8 (95% CI: 73.1-76.4) for algorithm A1 (AD diagnoses), and 72.3 (95% CI: 70.7-73.9) for algorithm A3 (diagnosed or treated patients without previous conditions); sensitivity was 71.4 (95% CI: 69.6-73.0) and 83.3 (95% CI: 81.8-84.6) for algorithms A1 (AD diagnoses) and A3, respectively. Stratified results did not differ by age, but PPV and sensitivity estimates decreased amongst men and severe patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PPV estimates differed depending on the gold standard. The development of algorithms integrating diagnoses and treatment of dementia improved the AD case ascertainment. PPV and sensitivity estimates were high and indicated that AD codes recorded in a large primary care database were sufficiently accurate for research purposes.

Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia Phenotype: Analysis of 5 Years Follow-Up of Real-World Data from More than 1.5 Million Patients.

In the statin era, the incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) has not been updated. We aimed to determine the incidence of ASCVD in patients with FH-phenotype (FH-P) and to compare it with that of normal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) patients. We performed a retrospective cohort study using the Database of the Catalan primary care system, including ≥18-year-old patients with an LDL-C measurement. From 1,589,264 patients available before 2009, 12,823 fulfilled FH-P criteria and 514,176 patients were normolipidemic (LDL-C < 115 mg/dL). In primary prevention, patients with FH-P had incidences of ASCVD and coronary heart disease (CHD) of 14.9/1000 and 5.8/1000 person-years, respectively, compared to 7.1/1000 and 2.1/1000 person-years in the normolipidemic group. FH-P showed hazard ratio (HR) of 7.1 and 16.7 for ASCVD and CHD, respectively, in patients younger than 35 years. In secondary prevention, patients with FH-P had incidences of ASCVD and CHD of 89.7/1000 and 34.5/1000 person-years, respectively, compared to 90.9/1000 and 28.2/1000 person-years in the normolipidemic group (HR in patients younger than 35 years: 2.4 and 6.0). In the statin era, FH-P remains associated with high cardiovascular risk, compared with the normolipidemic population. This excess of risk is markedly high in young individuals.

Effectiveness of Statins as Primary Prevention in People With Gout: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular guidelines do not give firm recommendations on statin therapy in patients with gout because evidence is lacking. AIM: To analyze the effectiveness of statin therapy in primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke (IS), and all-cause mortality in a population with gout. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study (July 2006 to December 2017) based on Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAPQ), a research-quality database of electronic medical records, included primary care patients (aged 35-85 years) without previous cardiovascular disease (CVD). Participants were categorized as nonusers or new users of statins (defined as receiving statins for the first time during the study period). Index date was first statin invoicing for new users and randomly assigned to nonusers. The groups were compared for the incidence of CHD, IS, and all-cause mortality, using Cox proportional hazards modeling adjusted for propensity score. RESULTS: Between July 2006 and December 2008, 8018 individuals were included; 736 (9.1%) were new users of statins. Median follow-up was 9.8 years. Crude incidence of CHD was 8.16 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.25-10.65) and 6.56 (95% CI: 5.85-7.36) events per 1000 person-years in new users and nonusers, respectively. Hazard ratios were 0.84 (95% CI: 0.60-1.19) for CHD, 0.68 (0.44-1.05) for IS, and 0.87 (0.67-1.12) for all-cause mortality. Hazard for diabetes was 1.27 (0.99-1.63). CONCLUSIONS: Statin therapy was not associated with a clinically significant decrease in CHD. Despite higher risk of CVD in gout populations compared to general population, patients with gout from a primary prevention population with a low-to-intermediate incidence of CHD should be evaluated according to their cardiovascular risk assessment, lifestyle recommendations, and preferences, in line with recent European League Against Rheumatism recommendations.

Role of Low Ankle-Brachial Index in Cardiovascular and Mortality Risk Compared with Major Risk Conditions.

Cardiovascular prevention is of particular interest in persons with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease. We aimed to quantify its association with mortality and cardiovascular outcomes, compared to other indicators of high risk. We performed a retrospective cohort study using the Database of the Catalan primary care system (SIDIAPQ), for 2006-2015, including 35-85-year-old patients with an ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement, classified according to the presence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and low ABI (<0.9). We calculated the incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke. During a median follow-up of 5.9 years, we analyzed 58,118 persons. The mean (SD) age was 66.6 (10.7) years and 53.4% were men. Compared to the reference group with no diabetes, no previous cardiovascular disease, and normal ankle-brachial index, the HR for all-cause mortality was 1.42 (1.25-1.63) in the group with low ABI, 1.35 (1.26-1.45) in those with diabetes, 1.50 (1.34-1.69) in those with previous cardiovascular disease, and 1.84 (1.68-2.01) in those with low ABI and diabetes. In conclusion, participants with low ABI showed increased mortality, acute myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke incidence in all the subgroups. Patients with low ankle-brachial index plus diabetes presented increased mortality, acute myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke risk, all at rates similar to those with previous cardiovascular disease.