Cardiovascular Disease Burden and Socioeconomic Correlates: Findings From the Jackson Heart Study.

BACKGROUND: Black persons have an excess burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with white persons. This burden persists after adjustment for socioeconomic status and other known CVD risk factors. This study evaluated the CVD burden and the socioeconomic gradient of CVD among black participants in the JHS (Jackson Heart Study). METHODS AND RESULTS: CVD burden was evaluated by comparing the observed prevalence of myocardial infarction, stroke, and hypertension in the JHS at baseline (2000-2004) with the expected prevalence according to US national surveys during a similar time period. The socioeconomic gradient of CVD was evaluated using logistic regression models. Compared with the national data, the JHS age- and sex-standardized prevalence ratios for myocardial infarction, stroke, and hypertension were 1.07 (95% CI, 0.90-1.27), 1.46 (95% CI, 1.18-1.78), and 1.51 (95% CI, 1.42-1.60), respectively, in men and 1.50 (95% CI, 1.27-1.76), 1.33 (95% CI, 1.12-1.57), and 1.43 (95% CI, 1.37-1.50), respectively, in women. A significant and inverse relationship was observed between socioeconomic status and CVD within the JHS cohort. The strongest and most consistent socioeconomic correlate after adjusting for age and sex was income for myocardial infarction (odds ratio: 3.53; 95% CI, 2.31-5.40) and stroke (odds ratio: 3.73; 95% CI, 2.32-5.97), comparing the poor and affluent income categories. CONCLUSIONS: Except for myocardial infarction in men, CVD burden in the JHS cohort was higher than expected. A strong inverse socioeconomic gradient of CVD was also observed within the JHS cohort.

Rationale, design, and sample characteristics of a practical randomized trial to assess a weight loss intervention for low-income women: the Weight-Wise II Program.

Obesity is common among low-income mid-life women, yet most published weight loss studies have not focused on this population and have been highly resourced efficacy trials. Thus, practical type 2 translational studies are needed to evaluate weight loss interventions for low-income women. In this paper, we present the rationale, study design, and baseline characteristics of a type 2 translational study that evaluates both the processes and outcomes of a weight loss intervention for low-income women given at 6 county health departments in North Carolina. Key features of this study include random selection of study sites, intervention delivery by current staff at study sites, efforts to integrate the intervention with local community resources, a focus on evaluating the processes of translation using the RE-AIM framework, use of an evidence-based weight loss intervention, a detailed description of participant recruitment and representativeness, and a practical randomized trial designed to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Of 81 health departments invited to participate, 30 (37%) were eligible and willing, and 6 were selected at random to deliver the intervention. Of 432 potential participants screened by phone, 213 (49%) were eligible and of these, 189 (89%) completed baseline measures and were randomized to receive a 5-month weight loss intervention or a delayed intervention. The mean age was 51, mean BMI 37 kg/m(2), 53% were African American, and 43% had no health insurance. The results of this study should be informative to key stakeholders interested in real world weight loss interventions for low-income mid-life women.