A Social Media-Based Mindfulness Psycho-Behavioral Intervention (MCARE) for Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress is common among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and has considerable adverse impacts on disease progression and health outcomes. Mindfulness-based intervention is a promising complementary approach to address patients' psychological needs and promote holistic well-being. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the effects of a social media-based mindfulness psycho-behavioral intervention (MCARE) on psychological distress, psychological stress, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and cardiovascular risk factors among patients with ACS. METHODS: This study was a 2-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial. We recruited 178 patients (mean age 58.7, SD 8.9 years; 122/178, 68.5% male) with ACS at 2 tertiary hospitals in Jinan, China. Participants were randomly assigned to the MCARE group (n=89) or control group (n=89). The 6-week intervention consisted of 1 face-to-face session (phase I) and 5 weekly WeChat (Tencent Holdings Ltd)-delivered sessions (phase II) on mindfulness training and health education and lifestyle modification. The primary outcomes were depression and anxiety. Secondary outcomes included psychological stress, HRQoL, and cardiovascular risk factors (ie, smoking status, physical activity, dietary behavior, BMI, blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood glucose). Outcomes were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and 12 weeks after the commencement of the intervention (T2). RESULTS: The MCARE group showed significantly greater reductions in depression (T1: ß=-2.016, 95% CI -2.584 to -1.449, Cohen d=-1.28, P<.001; T2: ß=-2.089, 95% CI -2.777 to -1.402, Cohen d=-1.12, P<.001) and anxiety (T1: ß=-1.024, 95% CI -1.551 to -0.497, Cohen d=-0.83, P<.001; T2: ß=-0.932, 95% CI -1.519 to -0.346, Cohen d=-0.70, P=.002). Significantly greater improvements were also observed in psychological stress (ß=-1.186, 95% CI -1.678 to -0.694, Cohen d=-1.41, P<.001), physical HRQoL (ß=0.088, 95% CI 0.008-0.167, Cohen d=0.72, P=.03), emotional HRQoL (ß=0.294, 95% CI 0.169-0.419, Cohen d=0.81, P<.001), and general HRQoL (ß=0.147, 95% CI 0.070-0.224, Cohen d=1.07) at T1, as well as dietary behavior (ß=0.069, 95% CI 0.003-0.136, Cohen d=0.75, P=.04), physical activity level (ß=177.542, 95% CI -39.073 to 316.011, Cohen d=0.51, P=.01), and systolic blood pressure (ß=-3.326, 95% CI -5.928 to -0.725, Cohen d=-1.32, P=.01) at T2. The overall completion rate of the intervention (completing ≥5 sessions) was 76% (68/89). Positive responses to the questions of the acceptability questionnaire ranged from 93% (76/82) to 100% (82/82). CONCLUSIONS: The MCARE program generated favorable effects on psychological distress, psychological stress, HRQoL, and several aspects of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with ACS. This study provides clues for guiding clinical practice in the recognition and management of psychological distress and integrating the intervention into routine rehabilitation practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000033526; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojEN.html?proj=54693.

Mechanisms of a mindfulness psyCho-behAvioRal intErvention (MCARE) on depression and anxiety symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A longitudinal mediation analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the mediating roles of mindfulness and illness perception in the effects of a social media-based Mindfulness psyCho-behAvioRal intErvention (MCARE) on depressive and anxiety symptoms among patients with ACS. METHODS: This study conducted a secondary longitudinal mediation analysis using data from a randomized controlled trial of the MCARE grogram in patients with ACS. Participants were recruited at two tertiary hospitals in Jinan, China. The MCARE program consisted of six weekly sessions addressing mindfulness training and disease management to facilitate understanding and management of emotions and illness. The analytical sample included participants who completed measures of the primary outcomes, i.e., depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) and potential mediators, i.e., mindfulness (CAMS-R) and illness perception (Brief-IPQ) at baseline (T0), immediate post-intervention (T1), and 12-week after the commencement of the intervention (T2). RESULTS: This study included 146 participants (mean age 58.9 years (SD = 8.9), 69.2 % male), including both intervention and control groups. The mediation analysis revealed a significant mediating effect of T1 mindfulness in the relationship between the group and T2 depression symptoms (indirect effect: -0.109, 95 % CI: -0.191, -0.041; P = 0.004), accounting for 26 % of the effect. For T2 anxiety symptoms, T1 illness perception exhibited a significant mediating effect (indirect effect: -0.055, 95 % CI: -0.110, -0.005; P = 0.035), accounting for 22 % of the effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that mindfulness and illness perception played a mediating role in the effects of the MCARE program on depressive and anxiety symptoms among patients with ACS.

The association between food environments and cardiovascular disease outcomes: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, particularly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Food environments may be linked with the risk of CVD; however, current study findings regarding their relationship are inconsistent. A systematic review of their associations is needed to guide interventions to improve cardiovascular health. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to comprehensively assess the relationship between food environments and CVD outcomes, including incidence, hospitalization, mortality, and recurrence rates. METHOD: According to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted until 28th March 2024, using eight databases, including PubMed, Embase, Ovid, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang Data. The review quality was assessed according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). The included studies were categorized based on their exposure factors into unhealthy, healthy, and comprehensive food environments, encompassing facilities that offer healthy and unhealthy foods. The findings were narratively synthesized according to this classification. RESULT: A total of 23 studies, encompassing 13 cross-sectional studies and 10 cohort-longitudinal studies, were included in this review. Among the 20 studies on unhealthy food environments, 13 found a positive association with CVD outcomes. Of the seven studies on healthy food environments, 3 found a negative association with CVD outcomes. Additionally, 4 out of 8 studies on comprehensive food environments found a significant but inconsistent association with CVD outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that unhealthy food environments are probably associated with CVD outcomes. At the same time, there is currently no conclusive evidence to indicate a relationship between healthy food environments or comprehensive food environments and CVD outcomes.

Relationships between disease severity, psychological stress, and health-related quality of life among patients with acute coronary syndrome: mediation of illness perception.

AIMS: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) often experience reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL), which may be attributable to the disease severity and psychological stress. While illness perception is speculated to be a potential pathway underlying these relationships, evidence supporting this mechanism remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between disease severity, psychological stress, and HRQOL and whether these relationships are mediated by illness perception in patients with ACS. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were collected from June to July 2019 and June to September 2020 in the cardiology departments of four public hospitals in China. Eligible patients completed measures of disease severity, psychological stress, illness perception, HRQOL, and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Data were analysed employing hierarchical multiple regression and structural equation modelling. This study included 405 participants (mean age 60.63 years, 67.4% male). After controlling for socio-demographic and clinical covariates, higher levels of disease severity (ß = 0.115, P = 0.024) and psychological stress (ß = -0.209, P＜0.001) were associated with poorer HRQOL; however, the relationships became non-significant after adding illness perception into the regression model. Structural equation modelling analysis suggested that illness perception played a mediating role between disease severity, psychological stress, and HRQOL, accounting for 45.95% and 65.79% of the total effects, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study found that illness perception mediated the relationships between disease severity, psychological stress, and HRQOL among patients with ACS. Improving patients' HRQOL should consider its important influencing factors with a focus on promoting positive illness perception.

Assessment of aortic and peripheral arterial stiffness in patients with knee osteoarthritis by ultrasound Doppler derived pulse wave velocity.

Information regarding regional arterial stiffness assessment in osteoarthritis (OA) was scarce and sometimes contradictory. We aimed to investigate the aortic, lower limb peripheral arterial stiffness and their associations with knee OA. Patients with primary knee OA and matched non-OA controls were prospectively enrolled from two medical centers in China. The carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity (faPWV) were measured using a novel ultrasound technique. A total of 238 participants (including 128 patients with knee OA and 110 controls) were included. In OA patients, cfPWV was significantly higher than that of non-OA controls (9.40 ± 1.92 vs 8.25 ± 1.26 m/s, P < 0.0001). However, faPWV measurements in OA patients (12.10 ± 2.09 m/s) showed no significant difference compared with that of the controls (11.67 ± 2.52 m/s, P = 0.130). Multiple regression analysis revealed that cfPWV was independently associated with knee OA (P < 0.0001) after adjusting for the confounding factors including age, gender, smoking, mean blood pressure, body mass index, heart rate, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and lipids profiles. In contrast, faPWV did not show independent association with knee OA (P = 0.372) when after adjusting for confounding factors. In addition, Spearman's correlation analysis showed cfPWV had a significant correlation with Kellgren-Lawrence score (rs = 0.2333, P = 0.008), but no correlation was founded between faPWV with Kellgren-Lawrence score (rs = 0.1624, P = 0.067) in OA patients. This study demonstrated that stiffening of aorta, but not lower limb arteries, was independently associated with knee OA. Our findings may call for further implementation of routine aortic stiffness assessments so as to evaluate cardiovascular risk in patients with OA.

Stereospecific Dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation of Alcohols Promoted by a Combination of Hypervalent Trifluoromethylthio-iodine(III) Reagent and N-Heterocyclic Carbene.

Direct dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation of alcohols is an attractive strategy for accessing CF3S-containing compounds. Herein, we report a method for dehydroxytrifluoromethylthiolation of alcohols by using the combination of hypervalent iodine(III) reagent TFTI and N-heterocyclic carbenes. This method shows excellent stereospecificity and chemoselectivity to give a product with clean inversion of the configuration of hydroxyl groups as well as can be used for late-stage modification of structurally complex alcohols. The reaction mechanism is proposed with experimental and computational evidence.

[Effects of Huangqi on phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophage of mice].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of Huangqi decoction (HQD) on phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophage of mice. METHOD: One hundred Kunming mice, whose weight varied from 18 g to 22 g, were selected and divided into 10 groups randomly in eluding contrast group, groups conducted at different doses of HQD by ig, groups conducted in various ways of taking medicine, and groups conducted with comparative treat combining Huangqi and Dexamethasone. Mice in every group were taken medicine one time daily for 6 days. RESULT: Among the groups treated at different doses of HQD, phagocytic rate and phagocytic index of mice, which were taken HQD by ig at high, middle, and low doses, were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that of mice in contrast group, at the same time the effect in group with high dose was the best. Among the groups treated in various ways of taking medicine, phagocytic rate of the ip group was significantly better (P < 0.01) than that of the sc group and that of the ig group respectively, but there was not significant difference (P > 0.05) of phagocytic index among them. Among the groups combining Huangqi and Dexamethasone, Huangqi could antagonize the immunosuppressive effect of Dexamethasone obviously (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: HQD at different doses and with various ways of taking medicine could improve phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophage of mice at different degree, and could antagonize the immunosuppressive effect of Dexamethasone.