Open AccessPrevalence of the A merican H eart Association's “Ideal Cardiovascular Health” Metrics in a Rural, Cross‐sectional, Community‐Based Study: The Heart of N ew U lm Project
Author(s) -
Kim Jacqueline I.,
Sillah Arthur,
Boucher Jackie L.,
Sidebottom Abbey C.,
Knickelbine Thomas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the american heart association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.494
H-Index - 85
ISSN - 2047-9980
DOI - 10.1161/jaha.113.000058
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiovascular health , psychological intervention , community health , gerontology , population , disease , public health , environmental health , pathology , psychiatry
Background The A merican H eart A ssociation ( AHA ) recently created the construct of “ideal cardiovascular health” based on 7 cardiovascular health metrics to measure progress toward their 2020 I mpact G oal. The present study applied this construct to assess the baseline cardiovascular health of a rural population targeted with a community‐based cardiovascular disease prevention program. Methods and Results The sample consists of 4754 N ew U lm, Minn, adult residents who participated in either the 2009 or 2011 community heart health screenings offered by the H earts B eat B ack: T he H eart of N ew U lm ( HONU ) Project (mean age 52.1 years, 58.3% women). Data collected at the screenings were analyzed to replicate the AHA 's ideal cardiovascular health measure and the 7 metrics that comprise the construct. Screening participants met, on average (±SD), 3.4 (±1.4) ideal cardiovascular health metrics. Only 1.0% of participants met the AHA 's definition of ideal health in all metrics and 7.1% met ≤1 ideal health metric. Higher proportions of women met the ideal category in all metrics except physical activity. Women over the age of 60 were less likely to meet the ideal category for cholesterol and hypertension than were men in the same age range. Conclusion Prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health is extremely low in this rural population. To make progress toward the 2020 I mpact G oal, targeted community‐based interventions must be implemented based on the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors.