Inequalities in the use of secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease by socioeconomic status: Evidence from the PURE observational study

Background: There is little evidence on the use of secondary prevention medicines for cardiovascular disease by socioeconomic groups in countries at different levels of economic development.Methods: We assessed use of antiplatelet, cholesterol, and blood-pressure-lowering drugs in 8492 individuals with self-reported cardiovascular disease from 21 countries enrolled in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Defining one or more drugs as a minimal level of secondary prevention, wealth-related inequality was measured using the Wagstaff concentration index, scaled from -1 (pro-poor) to 1 (pro-rich), standardised by age and sex. Correlations between inequalities and national health-related indicators were estimated.Findings: The proportion of patients with cardiovascular disease on three medications ranged from 0% in South Africa (95% CI 0-1·7), Tanzania (0-3·6), and Zimbabwe (0-5·1), to 49·3% in Canada (44·4-54·3). Proportions receiving at least one drug varied from 2·0% (95% CI 0·5-6·9) in Tanzania to 91·4% (86·6-94·6) in Sweden. There was significant (p\u3c0·05) pro-rich inequality in Saudi Arabia, China, Colombia, India, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. Pro-poor distributions were observed in Sweden, Brazil, Chile, Poland, and the occupied Palestinian territory. The strongest predictors of inequality were public expenditure on health and overall use of secondary prevention medicines.Interpretation: Use of medication for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease is alarmingly low. In many countries with the lowest use, pro-rich inequality is greatest. Policies associated with an equal or pro-poor distribution include free medications and community health programmes to support adherence to medications

Socioeconomic status and risk of cardiovascular disease in 20 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: The prospective urban rural epidemiologic (PURE) study

Background: Socioeconomic status is associated with differences in risk factors for cardiovascular disease incidence and outcomes, including mortality. However, it is unclear whether the associations between cardiovascular disease and common measures of socioeconomic status-wealth and education-differ among high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries, and, if so, why these differences exist. We explored the association between education and household wealth and cardiovascular disease and mortality to assess which marker is the stronger predictor of outcomes, and examined whether any differences in cardiovascular disease by socioeconomic status parallel differences in risk factor levels or differences in management.Methods: In this large-scale prospective cohort study, we recruited adults aged between 35 years and 70 years from 367 urban and 302 rural communities in 20 countries. We collected data on families and households in two questionnaires, and data on cardiovascular risk factors in a third questionnaire, which was supplemented with physical examination. We assessed socioeconomic status using education and a household wealth index. Education was categorised as no or primary school education only, secondary school education, or higher education, defined as completion of trade school, college, or university. Household wealth, calculated at the household level and with household data, was defined by an index on the basis of ownership of assets and housing characteristics. Primary outcomes were major cardiovascular disease (a composite of cardiovascular deaths, strokes, myocardial infarction, and heart failure), cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality. Information on specific events was obtained from participants or their family.Findings: Recruitment to the study began on Jan 12, 2001, with most participants enrolled between Jan 6, 2005, and Dec 4, 2014. 160 299 (87·9%) of 182 375 participants with baseline data had available follow-up event data and were eligible for inclusion. After exclusion of 6130 (3·8%) participants without complete baseline or follow-up data, 154 169 individuals remained for analysis, from five low-income, 11 middle-income, and four high-income countries. Participants were followed-up for a mean of 7·5 years. Major cardiovascular events were more common among those with low levels of education in all types of country studied, but much more so in low-income countries. After adjustment for wealth and other factors, the HR (low level of education vs high level of education) was 1·23 (95% CI 0·96-1·58) for high-income countries, 1·59 (1·42-1·78) in middle-income countries, and 2·23 (1·79-2·77) in low-income countries (pinteraction\u3c0·0001). We observed similar results for all-cause mortality, with HRs of 1·50 (1·14-1·98) for high-income countries, 1·80 (1·58-2·06) in middle-income countries, and 2·76 (2·29-3·31) in low-income countries (pinteraction\u3c0·0001). By contrast, we found no or weak associations between wealth and these two outcomes. Differences in outcomes between educational groups were not explained by differences in risk factors, which decreased as the level of education increased in high-income countries, but increased as the level of education increased in low-income countries (pinteraction\u3c0·0001). Medical care (eg, management of hypertension, diabetes, and secondary prevention) seemed to play an important part in adverse cardiovascular disease outcomes because such care is likely to be poorer in people with the lowest levels of education compared to those with higher levels of education in low-income countries; however, we observed less marked differences in care based on level of education in middle-income countries and no or minor differences in high-income countries.Interpretation: Although people with a lower level of education in low-income and middle-income countries have higher incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular disease, they have better overall risk factor profiles. However, these individuals have markedly poorer health care. Policies to reduce health inequities globally must include strategies to overcome barriers to care, especially for those with lower levels of education.Funding: Full funding sources are listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments)

Associations of outdoor fine particulate air pollution and cardiovascular disease in 157 436 individuals from 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries (PURE): A prospective cohort study

Background: Most studies of long-term exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2·5) and cardiovascular disease are from high-income countries with relatively low PM2·5 concentrations. It is unclear whether risks are similar in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and how outdoor PM2·5 contributes to the global burden of cardiovascular disease. In our analysis of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, we aimed to investigate the association between long-term exposure to PM2·5 concentrations and cardiovascular disease in a large cohort of adults from 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries.Methods: In this multinational, prospective cohort study, we studied 157 436 adults aged 35-70 years who were enrolled in the PURE study in countries with ambient PM2·5 estimates, for whom follow-up data were available. Cox proportional hazard frailty models were used to estimate the associations between long-term mean community outdoor PM2·5 concentrations and cardiovascular disease events (fatal and non-fatal), cardiovascular disease mortality, and other non-accidental mortality.Findings: Between Jan 1, 2003, and July 14, 2018, 157 436 adults from 747 communities in 21 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries were enrolled and followed up, of whom 140 020 participants resided in LMICs. During a median follow-up period of 9·3 years (IQR 7·8-10·8; corresponding to 1·4 million person-years), we documented 9996 non-accidental deaths, of which 3219 were attributed to cardiovascular disease. 9152 (5·8%) of 157 436 participants had cardiovascular disease events (fatal and non-fatal incident cardiovascular disease), including 4083 myocardial infarctions and 4139 strokes. Mean 3-year PM2·5 at cohort baseline was 47·5 μg/m3 (range 6-140). In models adjusted for individual, household, and geographical factors, a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2·5 was associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease events (hazard ratio 1·05 [95% CI 1·03-1·07]), myocardial infarction (1·03 [1·00-1·05]), stroke (1·07 [1·04-1·10]), and cardiovascular disease mortality (1·03 [1·00-1·05]). Results were similar for LMICs and communities with high PM2·5 concentrations (\u3e35 μg/m3). The population attributable fraction for PM2·5 in the PURE cohort was 13·9% (95% CI 8·8-18·6) for cardiovascular disease events, 8·4% (0·0-15·4) for myocardial infarction, 19·6% (13·0-25·8) for stroke, and 8·3% (0·0-15·2) for cardiovascular disease mortality. We identified no consistent associations between PM2·5 and risk for non-cardiovascular disease deaths.Interpretation: Long-term outdoor PM2·5 concentrations were associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease in adults aged 35-70 years. Air pollution is an important global risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a need exists to reduce air pollution concentrations, especially in LMICs, where air pollution levels are highest.Funding: Full funding sources are listed at the end of the paper (see Acknowledgments)

Polyvascular Disease in Patients Presenting with Acute Coronary Syndrome: Its Predictors and Outcomes

We evaluated prevalence and clinical outcome of polyvascular disease (PolyVD) in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Data for 7689 consecutive ACS patients were collected from the 2nd Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events between October 2008 and June 2009. Patients were divided into 2 groups (ACS with versus without PolyVD). All-cause mortality was assessed at 1 and 12 months. Patients with PolyVD were older and more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors. On presentation, those patients were more likely to have atypical angina, high resting heart rate, high Killip class, and GRACE risk scoring. They were less likely to receive evidence-based therapies. Diabetes mellitus, renal failure, and hypertension were independent predictors for presence of PolyVD. PolyVD was associated with worse in-hospital outcomes (except for major bleedings) and all-cause mortality even after adjusting for baseline covariates. Great efforts should be directed toward primary and secondary preventive measures

Care of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction: an international analysis of quality indicators in the acute coronary syndrome STEMI Registry of the EURObservational Research Programme and ACVC and EAPCI Associations of the European Society of Cardiology in 11 462 patients

Aims To use quality indicators to study the management of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in different regions. Methods and results Prospective cohort study of STEM I within 24 h of symptom onset (11 462 patients, 196 centres, 26 European Society of Cardiology members, and 3 affiliated countries). The median delay between arrival at a percutaneous cardiovascular intervention (PCI) centre and primary PCI was 40 min (interquartile range 20-74) with 65.8% receiving PCI within guideline recommendation of 60 min. A third of patients (33.2%) required transfer from their initial hospital to one that could perform emergency PCI for whom only 27.2% were treated within the quality indicator recommendation of 120 min. Radial access was used in 56.6% of all primary PCI, but with large geographic variation, from 76.4 to 9.1%. Statins were prescribed at discharge to 98.7% of patients, with little geographic variation. Of patients with a history of heart failure or a documented left ventricular ejection fraction <= 40%, 84.0% were discharged on an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker and 88.7% were discharged on beta-blockers. Conclusion Care for STEMI shows wide geographic variation in the receipt of timely primary PCI, and is in contrast with the more uniform delivery of guideline-recommended pharmacotherapies at time of hospital discharge. [GRAPHICS]

Availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines and the effect on blood pressure control in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: an analysis of the PURE study data.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is considered the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but its control is poor worldwide. We aimed to assess the availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines, and the association with use of these medicines and blood pressure control in countries at varying levels of economic development. METHODS: We analysed the availability, costs, and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines with data recorded from 626 communities in 20 countries participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study. Medicines were considered available if they were present in the local pharmacy when surveyed, and affordable if their combined cost was less than 20% of the households' capacity to pay. We related information about availability and affordability to use of these medicines and blood pressure control with multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models, and compared results for high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income countries. Data for India are presented separately because it has a large generic pharmaceutical industry and a higher availability of medicines than other countries at the same economic level. FINDINGS: The availability of two or more classes of blood pressure-lowering drugs was lower in low-income and middle-income countries (except for India) than in high-income countries. The proportion of communities with four drug classes available was 94% in high-income countries (108 of 115 communities), 76% in India (68 of 90), 71% in upper-middle-income countries (90 of 126), 47% in lower-middle-income countries (107 of 227), and 13% in low-income countries (nine of 68). The proportion of households unable to afford two blood pressure-lowering medicines was 31% in low-income countries (1069 of 3479 households), 9% in middle-income countries (5602 of 65 471), and less than 1% in high-income countries (44 of 10 880). Participants with known hypertension in communities that had all four drug classes available were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·23, 95% CI 1·59-3·12); p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·53, 1·13-2·07; p=0·054), and have their blood pressure controlled (2·06, 1·69-2·50; p<0·0001) than were those in communities where blood pressure-lowering medicines were not available. Participants with known hypertension from households able to afford four blood pressure-lowering drug classes were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted OR 1·42, 95% CI 1·25-1·62; p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·26, 1·08-1·47; p=0·0038), and have their blood pressure controlled (1·13, 1·00-1·28; p=0·0562) than were those unable to afford the medicines. INTERPRETATION: A large proportion of communities in low-income and middle-income countries do not have access to more than one blood pressure-lowering medicine and, when available, they are often not affordable. These factors are associated with poor blood pressure control. Ensuring access to affordable blood pressure-lowering medicines is essential for control of hypertension in low-income and middle-income countries. FUNDING: Population Health Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient Oriented Research through the Ontario SPOR Support Unit, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, pharmaceutical companies (with major contributions from AstraZeneca [Canada], Sanofi Aventis [France and Canada], Boehringer Ingelheim [Germany amd Canada], Servier, and GlaxoSmithKline), Novartis and King Pharma, and national or local organisations in participating countries

Global mortality variations in patients with heart failure: results from the International Congestive Heart Failure (INTER-CHF) prospective cohort study

Background Most data on mortality and prognostic factors in patients with heart failure come from North America and Europe, with little information from other regions. Here, in the International Congestive Heart Failure (INTERCHF) study, we aimed to measure mortality at 1 year in patients with heart failure in Africa, China, India, the Middle East, southeast Asia and South America; we also explored demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic variables associated with mortality. Methods We enrolled consecutive patients with heart failure (3695 [66%] clinic outpatients, 2105 [34%] hospital in patients) from 108 centres in six geographical regions. We recorded baseline demographic and clinical characteristics and followed up patients at 6 months and 1 year from enrolment to record symptoms, medications, and outcomes. Time to death was studied with Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographic and clinical variables, medications, socioeconomic variables, and region. We used the explained risk statistic to calculate the relative contribution of each level of adjustment to the risk of death. Findings We enrolled 5823 patients within 1 year (with 98% follow-up). Overall mortality was 16·5%: highest in Africa (34%) and India (23%), intermediate in southeast Asia (15%), and lowest in China (7%), South America (9%), and the Middle East (9%). Regional differences persisted after multivariable adjustment. Independent predictors of mortality included cardiac variables (New York Heart Association Functional Class III or IV, previous admission for heart failure, and valve disease) and non-cardiac variables (body-mass index, chronic kidney disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). 46% of mortality risk was explained by multivariable modelling with these variables; however, the remainder was unexplained. Interpretation Marked regional differences in mortality in patients with heart failure persisted after multivariable adjustment for cardiac and non-cardiac factors. Therefore, variations in mortality between regions could be the result of health-care infrastructure, quality and access, or environmental and genetic factors. Further studies in large, global cohorts are needed

Demystifying Smoker's Paradox: A Propensity Score-Weighted Analysis in Patients Hospitalized With Acute Heart Failure.

Background Smoker's paradox has been observed with several vascular disorders, yet there are limited data in patients with acute heart failure (HF). We examined the effects of smoking in patients with acute HF using data from a large multicenter registry. The objective was to determine if the design and analytic approach could explain the smoker's paradox in acute HF mortality. Methods and Results The data were sourced from the acute HF registry (Gulf CARE [Gulf Acute Heart Failure Registry]), a multicenter registry that recruited patients over 10 months admitted with a diagnosis of acute HF from 47 hospitals in 7 Middle Eastern countries. The association between smoking and mortality (in hospital) was examined using covariate adjustment, making use of mortality risk factors. A parallel analysis was performed using covariate balancing through propensity scores. Of 5005 patients hospitalized with acute HF, 1103 (22%) were current smokers. The in-hospital mortality rates were significantly lower in current smoker's before (odds ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52-0.96) and more so after (odds ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.70) covariate adjustment. With the propensity score-derived covariate balance, the smoking effect became much less certain (odds ratio, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.36-1.11). Conclusions The current study illustrates the fact that the smoker's paradox is likely to be a result of residual confounding as covariate adjustment may not resolve this if there are many competing prognostic confounders. In this situation, propensity score methods for covariate balancing seem preferable. Clinical Trial Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT01467973.Gulf CARE (Gulf Acute Heart Failure Registry) is an investigator- initiated study conducted under the auspices of the Gulf Heart Association and funded by Servier, Paris, France; and (for centers in Saudi Arabia), by the Saudi Heart Association (The Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [research group number: RG -1436- 013]). This does not alter our adherence to policies on sharing data and materials; and the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library

Clinical presentation and outcomes of peripartum cardiomyopathy in the Middle East: a cohort from seven Arab countries

Aims: Published data on the clinical presentation of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are very limited particularly from the Middle East. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical presentation, management, and outcomes of patients with PPCM using data from a large multicentre heart failure (HF) registry from the Middle East. Methods and results: From February to November 2012, a total of 5005 consecutive patients with HF were enrolled from 47 hospitals in 7 Middle East countries. From this cohort, patients with PPCM were identified and included in this study. Clinical features, in-hospital, and 12 months outcomes were examined. During the study period, 64 patients with PPCM were enrolled with a mean age of 32.5 ± 5.8 years. Family history was identified in 11 patients (17.2%) and hypertension in 7 patients (10.9%). The predominant presenting symptom was dyspnoea New York Heart Association class IV in 51.6%, class III in 31.3%, and class II in 17.2%. Basal lung crepitations and peripheral oedema were the predominant signs on clinical examination (98.2% and 84.4%, respectively). Most patients received evidence-based HF therapies. Inotropic support and mechanical ventilation were required in 16% and 5% of patients, respectively. There was one in-hospital death (1.6%), and after 1 year of follow-up, nine patients were rehospitalized with HF (15%), and one patient died (1.6%). Conclusions: A high index of suspicion of PPCM is required to make the diagnosis especially in the presence of family history of HF or cardiomyopathy. Further studies are warranted on the genetic basis of PPCM.Gulf CARE is an investigator-initiated study conducted under the auspices of the Gulf Heart Association and funded by Servier, Paris, France, and (for centres in Saudi Arabia) by the Saudi Heart Association [The Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Research Group Number RG-1436-013)]. This does not alter our adherence to policies on sharing data and materials, and the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript