Association between multiple cardiovascular comorbidities and the prevalence of Heart attack among peripheral arterial disease patients in rural Central Appalachia.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI), also known as heart attack, is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the heart diseases spectrum. It results from an insufficient supply of blood to the heart muscles. According to the United States (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 610 000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. every year. Myocardial infarction contributes 370 000 of these deaths annually. Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. experience heart attack. This burden is disproportionately distributed within the U.S. population. The rate of heart disease in Central Appalachia is 249 per 100 000, 42% higher than the national rate. Exploring further within the region, rural areas experience higher heart disease mortality rates; 27% higher than the region’s metro counties. According to 2018 America Health Ranking, the prevalence of heart attack in Tennessee is 5.9%, compared to the 4.9% nationwide, with the majority of the burden seen among adults aged ≥65 years and with a 1:1.8 female to male ratio. Patients with heart disease often have other comorbid conditions such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD), hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemias, which contribute immensely to this chronic condition. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the association between cardiovascular comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia, and the prevalence of heart attack among patients with PAD in rural Central Appalachia. Methods: We used a cross-sectional data of patients diagnosed with PAD in the Central Appalachian region. A total of 13455 patients with PAD were recruited using ICD 9 and 10 search terms for PAD from the electronic medical records (EMR) system between January 1, 2008, and April 30, 2018. Descriptive statistics of the variables were extracted. The association between the comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, body mass index(BMI) and the prevalence of MI was determined using a binomial logistic regression model. All analysis was done using IBM SPSS statistics 25. Results: Of the total 13455 patients with PAD, 3045 had MI (37.7% female and 62.3% male) with a mean age of 69±10.5years. While 93% had hypertension, 56% had diabetes. For the lipids, the mean of HDL, Cholesterol, and LDL among participants with a history of MI is 40.99mg/dl±13, 156.32mg/dl±45, 82.08mg/dl±36.35 respectively. The results of binomial logistic regression with stratification based on gender shows that female patients with diabetes had 86% increased odds of MI [OR: 1.858, C.I: 1.308-2.638, p-value=0.001), and for female hypertensives, 4.51 times increased odds of MI was found (C.I: 1.576-12.895, p-value=0.005). The male diabetics and hypertensives showed a similarly increased odds of MI with (OR 1.138, C.I: 0.870-1.489 p-value=0.345) and (OR 3.697C.I: 1.559-8.736, p-value=0.003) respectively. No significant association was found among the various lipid profiles examined. Conclusion: The results showed that female PAD patients with hypertension and diabetes have a significantly increased likelihood of having MI. In contrast, male with PAD also showed increased likelihood (although to a lesser degree) of MI in those with hypertension, but not those with diabetes. These findings underscore the importance of a proactive approach to preventive care and adequate control among PAD patients with diabetes and hypertension in a bid to curbing the morbidity and mortality associated with myocardial infarction among residents in Central Appalachia

The Influence of Diabetes on Peripheral Arterial Disease Comorbidities in the Central Appalachian Region between 2008 and 2018.

Abstract Background: Over 100 million people in the United States (U.S.) have diagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes. People with this condition are at an increased risk of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). There is a high prevalence of people with risk factors of diabetes especially in the rural Central Appalachia region. People with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, which is the most common cause of PAD. Although about 20–30% of 12 million people affected with PAD in the U.S. have diabetes, little is known about diabetes in PAD patients in Central Appalachia. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the risk factors of diabetes in patients with PAD within the Central Appalachian region. Methods: The study population consisted of patients with PAD with medical comorbidities of Cardiovascular disease (CVD). All patients were admitted to a large health system in Central Appalachia between 2008 and 2018. 13,455 index cases were extracted from the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) using the ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. With diabetes as the outcome variable under study, the risk factors included Myocardial Infarction (MI) history, hypertension, smoking status and hypercholesterolemia. Socio-demographic variables considered in the study included gender, age, ethnicity and marital status and the covariates were Body Mass Index (BMI), Low density lipoproteins (LDL), High density lipoproteins (HDL), Total Cholesterol, and Triglycerides (TG). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to examine potential risk factors of diabetes in PAD patients. Results: The results showed that BMI {OR =1.056 (CI: 1.039, 1.073)}, HDL {OR =0.980 (CI: 0.965, 0.995)}, TG {OR=1.003 (CI: 1.001, 1.005)}, MI history {OR= 1.375 (CI: 1.111, 1.703)}, hypertension {OR=2.822 (CI: 1.804, 4.415)} and smoking {OR =0.802(CI: 0.641, 1.003)} were significant for diabetes in known PAD. To control for potential confounders, Stratification was used. Among males and females with PAD, diabetes was associated with last BMI, MI, hypertension and TG. HDL seemed to be negatively associated with hypertension and female diabetics while smoking seemed to be negatively associated in males. Upon stratification with hypertension, diabetes in PAD patients was significant with BMI, TG, MI history and HDL. After stratification with MI, diabetes in PAD female patients was associated with BMI, and previous MI history. On the other hand, patients without MI had an elevated TG level and an increased risk of hypertension. Conclusion: CVD risk factors are strongly associated with PAD comorbidities, which are worsened in the presence of diabetes. We suggest that hospitals and health care systems should strongly control for the risk factors of diabetes and adopt a multi-risk-factor approach for improving health outcomes for PAD patients

Identifying Multiple Risk Factors of Hypertension for Reducing the Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease in Rural Central Appalachia

Introduction Hypertension occurs when there is persistent increase in the pressure of blood vessels in the body; this condition affects about 75 million people in the United States (U.S.). Hypertension is a major risk factor for Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD). PAD is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries in legs, stomach, arms and head regions of the body except the heart. Research has shown that hypertension can be life-threatening for patients with PAD. Moreover, research supports an evidence of a low threshold for blood pressure treatment in patients with PAD. Additionally, current American Heart Association guidelines recommend treating hypertension in patients with PAD to reduce the risk of other cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidities. In Central Appalachia, the rate of hypertension and the corresponding risk factors is higher than the national average. As such, this study examined the multiple risk factors of hypertension in patients with PAD within the Central Appalachian region. Method The study population consists of patients diagnosed with PAD in a large health system in Central Appalachia from 2008 to 2018. We extracted 13,455 patients with PAD from Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system using ICD- 9 and ICD-10 codes. The outcome variable of the study was hypertension in PAD patients. Explanatory variables included gender, age, and cardiovascular risk factors (myocardial infarction (MI), Body Mass Index (BMI), diabetes mellitus, smoking status, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and hypercholesterolemia). Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between risk factors of hypertension in male and female PAD patients. All analyses were performed using SPSS version 24. RESULTS Of the total PAD patients in the study, 45.8% were females and 54.2% were males. Of these patients, 79.1%, 45.7% and 22.6% had hypertension, diabetes and a history of MI, respectively. Upon stratifying based on gender, the odds of hypertension in PAD female patients with a history of MI was approximately 5.4 times (OR: 5.4, CI : 1.80-16.21) and 2.6 times higher with diabetes (OR: 2.6, CI: 1.43-4.83). Whereas in PAD male patients, the odds of hypertension was 3.9 (OR: 2.6, CI: 1.61-9.21) and 2.6 times (OR: 2.6, CI: 1.43-4.83) higher in those with a history of MI and diabetes, respectively. Stratifying by MI, the odds of hypertension in PAD increased by 2.8 times in patients with diabetes (OR: 2.6, CI: 1.75-4.49). Stratifying by diabetes showed that the odds of hypertension in PAD increased by 4.7 times in patients with MI (OR: 4.7, CI: 1.32-17.07). CONCLUSION The study showed that odds of hypertension in PAD patients is increased in the presence of diabetes and history of MI in both genders. Therefore, controlling diabetes and myocardial infarction will have the greatest impact in reducing the likelihood of hypertension leading to decreased morbidity and mortality in patients with PAD

Clinical Risk Factors Associated with Ambulatory Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patient Smokers Treated with Thrombolytic Therapy

Background: Patients who have suffered an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and are smokers may have a better outcome following thrombolytic therapy when compared with non-smokers. While this finding is controversial, data on baseline clinical risk factors to predict treatment efficacy of thrombolytic therapy using ambulatory status in patients who suffered AIS and are smokers is not common. Methods: Between 2010 and 2016, retrospective data on patients who have suffered an AIS and received recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) were obtained from Greenville health system registry. Assessment of clinical risk factors and the likelihood of an improvement in post-stroke ambulation among smokers and non-smokers was carried out using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of 1001 patients, 70.8% were smokers and 29.2% non-smokers. Among the smokers and non-smokers, 74.6% and 84.6% improvement in ambulation respectively at discharge. The odds of improved ambulation decrease among smokers as age group increases compared to those below 50 [(60–69 years, aOR, 0.30, 95% C.I, 0.108–0.850, p \u3c 0.05), (70–79 years aOR, 0.27, 95% C.I, 0.096–0.734, p \u3c 0.05), (80+ years aOR, 0.16, 95% C.I, 0.057–0.430, P \u3c 0.01). Patients with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale Score (NIHSS) score \u3e 7 (reference \u3c7) were 91% less likely to have improved ambulation among smokers and non-smokers (aOR, 0.09, 95% C.I, 0.055–0.155, P = 0.01), and (aOR, 0.08, 95% C.I, 0.027–0.214, P = 0.01) respectively. Atrial fibrillation was an independent predictor of decreased improvement in ambulation only among smokers (aOR, 0.58, 95% C.I, 0.356–0.928 P \u3c 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that elderly smokers with atrial fibrillation would benefit more from aggressive management of atrial fibrillation than non-smokers