Patient motivation and preferences in changing co-occurring health risk behaviors in general hospital patients.

OBJECTIVES: More than 60% of general hospital patients report ≥ 2 health risk behaviors (HRBs), i.e. tobacco smoking, at-risk alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and/or insufficient physical activity. This study investigates a) the association between numbers of HRBs and motivation to change, b) patient preferences for receiving feedback on HRBs, and c) patients' expected gain in quality of life if behavior change made. METHODS: In 2020/2021, 256 18-64-year-old general hospital patients (72.1% of eligibles) reported on their motivation to change each of their HRBs. Associations between HRB number and motivation were assessed using multivariate linear regressions. Participants ranked HRBs concerning their interest in receiving feedback and concerning their expected gain in quality of life if behavior change occurred. RESULTS: Higher HRB number was negatively related to motivation among at-risk alcohol users (p = 0.034); 24.6% expected gain in their quality of life from behavior change. Participants overall appeared more favorable to feedback about vegetable/fruit intake and physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Unhealthier lifestyle may be accompanied by decreased motivation to change in at-risk alcohol users. In case of co-occurring HRBs, asking patients for expected gain in quality of life may help guiding intervention target. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Relying on patient selection only, may often leave substance-use unaddressed.

Maternal socioeconomic and lifestyle factors and life dissatisfaction associated with a small for gestational age infant. The Survey of Neonates in Pomerania (SNiP).

PURPOSE: The aim is to investigate the associations of the mother's socioeconomic and lifestyle factors and life satisfaction with the delivery of a small for gestational age (SGA) infant. METHODS: Data from 4598 participants of the population-based birth cohort study Survey of Neonates in Pomerania (SniP) including comprehensive information on pregnancies, mothers, and their offspring in Western Pomerania, Germany were used in this study. The associations were analyzed using linear and logistic regression models. RESULTS: After logistic regression analysis adjusted for height of the mother, women who delivered SGA infants, had lower education (p < 0.01) and smoked more frequently during pregnancy (p < 0.01) compared with mothers of adequate for gestational age (AGA) neonates. A mother with less than 10 years of education and one who continued smoking during pregnancy had an odds ratio (OR) of 2.23 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.44 to 3.46] and 2.68 (95% CI = 2.06-3.49) of having an SGA infant, respectively. There was no association between the employment of the mother (p = 0.28), the monthly income (p = 0.09), the family status (p = 0.80), the number of friendships outside the household that the mother would not wish to relinquish (p = 0.47), the number of people that she could rely on in case of an emergency (p = 0.75), or alcohol consumption prior to (p = 0.14) or during the pregnancy (p = 0.99) with SGA. Finally, women who delivered SGA infants were more frequently dissatisfied with their employment (p = 0.03) and financial status (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Women who delivered SGA infants had more associated socioeconomic and lifestyle risk factors and were more frequently dissatisfied with their life conditions than mothers of AGA neonates.

Behavioral Health Risk Factors and Motivation to Change among Cardiovascular General Hospital Patients Aged 50 to 79 Years.

Little is known about the (co-)occurrence of smoking, alcohol at-risk drinking, physical inactivity and overweight, and the motivation to change these behavioral health risk factors (HRFs) in older general hospital patients with cardiovascular disease. Between October and December 2016, all consecutively admitted patients aged 50 to 79 years were proactively recruited on 3 cardiology wards and asked to participate in a survey on HRFs and behavior change motivation. Of the eligible patients, 80.4% participated in the survey (n = 328). The mean age was 66.5 years (standard deviation 9.0), and 65.5% were male. At least 1 HRF was present in 91.8% (n = 280), at least 2 HRFs in 54.4% (n = 166), and 3 or 4 HRFs in 12.1% (n = 37) of participants. The proportion of older adults who contemplated or were changing or planning to change their behavior to meet health behavior recommendations ranged between 66.0% (smoking) and 93.2% (alcohol consumption). The results indicate a notable co-occurrence of behavioral HRFs in older patients with cardiovascular disease. The majority of older adults were at least considering changing the respective behavior. To prevent and treat diseases efficiently, hospitalization may be a suitable moment for systematic multiple HRF screening and intervention.

Lower muscular strength is associated with smaller left and right chambers and lower cardiac mass in the general population - The Sedentary's Heart.

BACKGROUND: The cardiac muscle has the ability to adapt to different loading conditions. We analyzed the associations of the age-related decreasing handgrip strength (HGS), a marker of muscular fitness, on cardiac structure and function in a community-based sample. METHODS: We performed cross-sectional analyses of 4646 subjects (2554 women; 55.0%) aged 20 to 93 years from two independent cohorts of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-2 and SHIP-TREND-0). We analyzed the associations of HGS with structural and functional left and right ventricular (LV and RV) and left atrial (LA) parameters as determined by echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well with log-transformed NT-proBNP values using multivariable-adjusted linear regression models. RESULTS: MRI data showed that a 1 kg lower HGS was associated with a 0.40 mL (95% confidence interval: 0.26 to 0.54; p < 0.001) lower LV end-diastolic volume, a 0.011 mm (0.005 to 0.018; p = 0.001) lower LV wall-thickness, a 0.59 g (0.43 to 0.75; p < 0.001) lower LV mass, a 0.58 mL/beat (0.43 to 0.74; p < 0.001) lower LV stroke volume, a 0.03 L/min (0.02 to 0.04; p < 0.001) lower LV cardiac output, a 0.48 mL (0.27 to 0.68; p < 0.001) lower LA end-diastolic volume, and a 1.02 mL (0.71 to 1.32) lower RV end-diastolic volume. Similar findings were observed for echocardiographic parameters. Moreover, lower HGS was associated with higher echocardiographic LV diastolic stiffness and NT-proBNP levels. CONCLUSIONS: In this large population-based sample, lower muscular fitness as assessed by HGS was associated with lower LV wall thickness and mass as well as with smaller chamber size, stroke volume and cardiac output of the LV, LA and RV. Moreover, HGS was inversely related to LV diastolic stiffness and NT-proBNP values. These outcomes might demonstrate the effects of an aging-related decrease in physical activity and lower muscular fitness on the heart - "the sedentary's heart".

Cardiac MRI shows an association of lower cardiorespiratory fitness with decreased myocardial mass and higher cardiac stiffness in the general population - The Sedentary's Heart.

BACKGROUND: The heart has the capacity to adapt to different demands. The pathophysiological mechanisms involved with sedentarism are not fundamentally the opposite of those related with physical activity and regular exercise. We investigated the impact of lower cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on heart's plasticity and function in a population-based setting. METHODS: We used data from 1165 participants (539 women; 46.3%) aged 21-81 years from two independent cohorts of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-2 and SHIP-TREND-0). We analyzed the cross-sectional associations of peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), determined by symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise testing, with structural and functional left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) parameters determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using multivariable- adjusted linear regression models. RESULTS: A 1 L/min lower VO2peak was associated with a 10.5 g (95% confidence interval: 8.00 to 12.9; p < 0.001) lower LV mass, a 14.8 mL (10.9 to 18.6; p < 0.001) lower LV end-diastolic volume, a 0.29 mm (0.19 to 0.40; p < 0.001) lower LV wall-thickness, a 8.85 mL/beat (6.53 to 11.2; p < 0.001) lower LV stroke volume, a 0.42 L/min (0.25 to 0.60; p < 0.001) lower LV cardiac output and a 7.51 mL (3.88 to 11.1; p < 0.001) lower LA end-diastolic volume. Moreover, there were no associations with a concentric or eccentric remodeling and LV and LA ejection fraction. CONCLUSIONS: Lower CRF was associated with a smaller heart, LV wall-thickness and mass, LV and LA stroke volume and cardiac output. Conversely, there was no association with LA and LV ejection fraction. Our cross-sectional observations are consistent with cardiac adaptations reflecting reduced volume loading demands of a sedentary lifestyle - "the sedentary's heart".

Behavioral health risk factor profiles in general hospital patients: identifying the need for screening and brief intervention.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the clustering of behavioral health risk factors (HRFs), namely the occurrence of 16 specific combinations of tobacco smoking, at-risk alcohol use, overweight and physical inactivity in general hospital patients. Furthermore, social inequalities in HRFs, health and life expectancy are a major concern in public health. In order to establish the need for screening and intervention in general hospital care, the study aimed to determine the co-occurrence of HRFs in patients in four medical departments, and to investigate differences by gender, age and socio-economic characteristics. METHODS: Over 17 months, a systematic multiple HRF screening was conducted at one general hospital in northeastern Germany. In total, 6251 18-64 year old patients (92% of eligibles) participated. Proportions and confidence intervals were calculated for all 16 HRF profiles stratified by department, gender, age group, school education, and employment status. RESULTS: In total, 92.2% of the participants (58.6% male) reported ≥1 HRF, and 65.7% ≥2 HRFs. Men (71.2%), patients aged 35-49 (67.9%) and 50-64 years (69.5%), lower educated (79.0%), and unemployed (77.8%) patients had larger proportions of ≥2 HRFs than their counterparts. In all departments, the most common HRF profiles included overweight. HRF profiles that included alcohol and/ or smoking were more common in ear-nose-throat and trauma surgery than in internal medicine and general surgery patients. Men had higher rates concerning almost all HRF profiles including ≥2 HRFs and alcohol; women concerning profiles that included ≤2 HRFs and inactivity. In older patients, profiles with ≥2 HRFs including overweight; and in younger patients, profiles with smoking and/or alcohol were more common. In lower educated patients, profiles with ≥2 HRFs including inactivity; and in higher educated patients profiles with ≤2 HRFs including alcohol were more common. Compared to others, unemployed patients had higher rates of profiles with ≥3 HRFs including smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Two in three patients require interventions targeting two or more HRFs. The findings help to develop screening and brief intervention for patients with specific health risk profiles, that can reach most patients, including those most in need and those most hard to reach, with socio-economically disadvantaged people in particular. REGISTRY: clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01291693.

Glucose and insulin levels are associated with arterial stiffness and concentric remodeling of the heart.

BACKGROUND: Mortality attributable to heart failure remains high. The prevalence of heart failure in patients with diabetes mellitus ranges from 19 to 26%. It is estimated that up to 21.1 million adults in the United States have diagnosed diabetes mellitus and around 80.8 million have impaired fasting glucose. We investigated the associations of fasting glucose (FG) and fasting insulin (FI), the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) and 2-h postload glucose (2HG) and insulin (2HI) with parameters of left ventricular geometry and function and arterial stiffness determined by magnetic resonance imaging in individuals without diagnosed type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses of 1001 individuals (453 women, 45.3%), aged 21 to 80 years, from two independent population-based studies, the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND-0) and KORA FF4 Study. FG, FI, HOMA-IR, 2HG and 2HI, as well as glucose tolerance categories, were analyzed for associations with heart and arterial parameters using multivariable-adjusted linear regression models. RESULTS: In total, 390 individuals (39%) had prediabetes (isolated impaired fasting glucose, isolated glucose tolerance or both), and 49 (4.9%) were found to have unknown type 2 diabetes. In the multivariable-adjusted analysis, positive linear associations of FG, FI, HOMA-IR, 2HG and 2HI with arterial stiffness index and left ventricular wall-thickness and concentricity and inverse linear associations with left ventricular end-diastolic volume were observed. A 1 mmol/l higher FG was associated with a 1.18 ml/m2.7 (1.80 to 0.57; p < 0.001) lower left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, a 0.042 mm/m2.7 (0.014 to 0.070) higher left ventricular wall-thickness index, a 0.12 mmHg m2.7/ml (0.06 to 0.17; p < 0.001) greater arterial stiffness index and a 0.037 g/ml (0.018 to 0.056; p < 0.001) higher left ventricular concentricity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that higher glucose levels in the prediabetic range and insulin resistance might lead to higher arterial stiffness and concentric remodeling of the heart.