Publications (10)23.06 Total impact
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Article: Development of the Champlain primary care cardiovascular disease prevention and management guideline: tailoring evidence to community practice.
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ABSTRACT: A well documented gap remains between evidence and practice for clinical practice guidelines in cardiovascular disease (CVD) care. As part of the Champlain CVD Prevention Strategy, practitioners in the Champlain District of Ontario launched a large quality-improvement initiative that focused on increasing the uptake in primary care practice settings of clinical guidelines for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and CVD risk factors. The Champlain Primary Care CVD Prevention and Management Guideline is a desktop resource for primary care clinicians working in the Champlain District. The guideline was developed by more than 45 local experts to summarize the latest evidence-based strategies for CVD prevention and management, as well as to increase awareness of local community-based programs and services. Evidence suggests that tailored strategies are important when implementing specific practice guidelines. This article describes the process of creating an integrated clinical guideline for improvement in the delivery of cardiovascular care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien 06/2011; 57(6):e202-7. · 1.19 Impact Factor -
Article: Degree and correlates of patient trust in their cardiologist.
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ABSTRACT: Trust in one's doctor has been associated with increased treatment adherence, patient satisfaction and improved health status. This study investigated the level and correlates of patient trust in their cardiac specialist. All 386 urban cardiologists in Southern Ontario (95 participating, response rate = 30%) were approached to recruit a sample of their coronary artery disease outpatients. A total of 1111 recent and consecutive patients consented to participate (approximately 13 patients per cardiologist, 317 female (26.7%); response rate = 60%), and clinical data were extracted from their medical charts. Participants completed a mailed survey including the Trust in Physicians scale, in addition to an assessment of socio-demographic, clinical and psychosocial correlates. The mean trust score was equivalent to that reported in studies of primary care patients. Results of the significant multivariate model (F = 7.631, P < 0.001) revealed that less education (P < 0.001), higher systolic blood pressure (P = 0.022), less perceived cyclical/unpredictable illness timeline (P = 0.007) and greater perceived personal control over their heart condition (P = 0.004), were significant correlates of greater trust in cardiologist care. The significance of education is corroborated by findings of lower satisfaction with cardiac care among those of higher socio-economic status, despite having generally greater access to care in Ontario. Moreover, the relationship between hypertension and greater trust may suggest that such perceptions are not based on doctor competence. Future studies should further investigate the correlates of trust, as well as the impact of trust on cardiac health outcomes.Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 07/2009; 15(4):634-40. · 1.23 Impact Factor -
Article: Contribution of patient and physician factors to cardiac rehabilitation enrollment: a prospective multilevel study.
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ABSTRACT: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an established means of reducing mortality, yet is grossly underutilized. This is due to both health system and patient-level factors; issues that have yet to be investigated concurrently. This study utilized a hierarchical design to examine physician and patient-level factors affecting verified CR enrollment. A prospective multisite study, using a multilevel design of 1490 coronary artery disease outpatients nested within 97 Ontario cardiology practices (mean 15 per cardiologist). Cardiologists completed a survey regarding CR attitudes. Outpatients were surveyed prospectively to assess factors affecting CR enrollment. Patients were mailed a follow-up survey 9 months later to self-report CR enrollment. This was verified with 40 CR sites. Five hundred and fifty (43.4%) outpatients were referred, and 469 (37.0%) enrolled in CR. In mixed logistic regression analyses, factors affecting verified CR enrollment were greater strength of physician endorsement (P=0.005), shorter distance to CR (P=0.001), being married (P=0.01), and fewer perceived CR barriers (P=0.03). Both physician and patient factors play a part in CR enrollment. Patient CR barriers should be addressed during referral discussions, and reasons why physicians fail to uniformly endorse CR exploration. Although distance to CR was related to patient enrollment patterns, greater access to home-based CR services should be provided.European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation 11/2008; 15(5):548-56. · 2.63 Impact Factor -
Article: Contribution of patient and physician factors to cardiac rehabilitation referral: a prospective multilevel study.
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ABSTRACT: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR), in most developed countries, is a proven means of reducing mortality but it is grossly underutilized owing to factors involving both the health system and patients. These issues have not been investigated concurrently. To this end, we employed a hierarchical design to investigate physician and patient factors that affect verified CR referral. This study was prospective with a multilevel design. We assessed 1,490 outpatients with coronary artery disease attending 97 cardiology practices. Cardiologists completed a survey about attitudes to CR referral. Outpatients were surveyed prospectively to assess sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, psychosocial and health system factors that affected CR referral. Responses were analyzed by mixed logistic regression analyses. After 9 months, CR referral was verified at 40 centers. Health-care providers referred 550 (43.4%) outpatients to CR. Factors affecting verified referral included positive physician perceptions of CR (P = 0.03), short distance to the closest CR site (P = 0.003), the perception of fewer barriers to CR (P < 0.001) and a sense of personal control over their condition by the patient (P = 0.001). Physician-related and patient-related factors both contribute to CR referral. The most relevant physician perceptions of such programs are program quality and perceived benefit. For patients, the most relevant factors are perceived barriers to CR, which might be conveyed during prereferral discussions. Work to improve physicians' perceptions and patients' understanding might improve use of rehabilitation services.Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine 07/2008; 5(10):653-62. · 7.04 Impact Factor -
Article: Cardiologists' charting varied by risk factor, and was often discordant with patient report.
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ABSTRACT: To assess the completeness of cardiac risk factor documentation by cardiologists, and agreement with patient report. A total of 68 Ontario cardiologists and 789 of their ambulatory cardiology patients were randomly selected. Cardiac risk factor data were systematically extracted from medical charts, and a survey was mailed to participants to assess risk factor concordance. With regard to completeness of risk factor documentation, 90.4% of charts contained a report of hypertension, 87.2% of diabetes, 80.5% of dyslipidemia, 78.6% of smoking behavior, 73.0% of other comorbidities, 48.7% of family history of heart disease, and 45.9% of body mass index or obesity. Using Cohen's k, there was a concordance of 87.7% between physician charts and patient self-report of diabetes, 69.5% for obesity, 56.8% for smoking status, 49% for hypertension, and 48.4% for family history. Two of four major cardiac risk factors (hypertension and diabetes) were recorded in 90% of patient records; however, arguably the most important reversible risk factors for cardiac disease (dyslipidemia and smoking) were only reported 80% of the time. The results suggest that physician chart report may not be the criterion standard for quality assessment in cardiac risk factor reporting.Journal of clinical epidemiology 05/2008; 61(10):1073-9. · 2.96 Impact Factor -
Article: Treating the right patient at the right time: access to specialist consultation and non-invasive testing.
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ABSTRACT: The Council of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society commissioned working groups to examine issues of access to, and wait times for, various aspects of cardiovascular care. The present article summarizes the deliberations on targets for medically acceptable wait times for access to cardiovascular specialist evaluation and on the performance of noninvasive testing needed to complete this evaluation. Three categories of referral indications were identified: those requiring hospitalization due to substantial ongoing risk of mortality and morbidity; those requiring an expedited early review in an ambulatory setting; and, finally, a larger category in which delays of two to six weeks can be justified. The proposed wait time targets will provide guidance on the timeliness of care to busy clinicians charged with the care of patients with cardiovascular disease, help policy makers appreciate the clinical challenges in providing access to high quality care, and highlight the critical need for a thoughtful review of cardiology human resource requirements. Wait time implementation suggestions are also included, such as the innovative use of disease management and special need clinics. The times proposed assume that available clinical practice guidelines are followed for clinical coronary syndrome management and for treatment of associated conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, renal disease, smoking cessation and lipid disorders. Although media attention tends to focus on wait times for higher profile surgical procedures and high technology imaging, it is likely that patients face the greatest wait-related risk at the earlier phases of care, before the disease has been adequately characterized.The Canadian journal of cardiology 09/2006; 22(10):819-24. · 3.36 Impact Factor -
Article: Early effects of statin therapy on endothelial function and microvascular reactivity in patients with coronary artery disease.
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ABSTRACT: Recent data suggest an early outcome benefit with reduction in cholesterol using statin therapy in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This may be caused by effects of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction on endothelial function and vascular reactivity in the coronary bed. The aim of this randomized placebo-controlled study was to examine the early effects of important reductions in LDL-C on myocardial perfusion and peripheral endothelial function. Seventy-two patients with CAD and LDL-C between 3.0 and 5.9 mmol/L (116-228 mg/dL) were randomized to receive simvastatin 20 mg daily, pravastatin 40 mg daily, or placebo for 8 weeks. At baseline, 2 weeks, and 8 weeks, patients underwent dynamic positron emission tomography perfusion imaging to quantify the retention of rubidium-82 as a measure of myocardial flow at rest and after dipyridamole stress. Patients also underwent brachial artery ultrasound to measure endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilatation. At 2 and 8 weeks, the simvastatin and pravastatin groups showed a significant reduction (P < .001) in LDL-C compared with placebo. At 8 weeks, simvastatin led to an improvement in flow-mediated vasodilatation compared with placebo (6.86% +/- 4.4% vs 3.44% +/- 4.0%, P < .05), whereas pravastatin was not significantly different than placebo (5.62% +/- 4.1% vs 3.44% +/- 4.0%, P = NS). Despite this improvement in peripheral endothelial function with simvastatin, there were no significant differences observed in global stress flow and coronary flow reserve at 8 weeks with either drug. Short-term LDL reduction with simvastatin therapy improves peripheral endothelial function in patients with stable CAD, although an early effect on coronary vascular reactivity could not be demonstrated.American heart journal 06/2005; 149(6):1137. · 4.65 Impact Factor -
Article: Effect of Orlistat in obese patients with heart failure: a pilot study.
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ABSTRACT: Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization. Obesity is increasingly common and is a major public health problem. The aim of this study is to assess whether obese patients with heart failure can benefit from losing weight via an orlistat-assisted diet. This randomized clinical trial included obese patients with ejection fractions < or =40%. Orlistat and diet counseling were compared with diet counseling alone. Twenty-one consecutive obese patients with heart failure were recruited. Significant improvement in 6-minute walk test (45.8 m; 95% confidence interval, 5.2-86.4 m; p=0.031), functional class (-0.6+/-0.5, p=0.014), weight loss (-8.55 kg; 95% confidence interval, -13.0 to -4.1 kg; p<0.001) and also significant decreases in total cholesterol (p=0.017), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p=0.03), and triglycerides (p=0.036) were observed in the orlistat group. Orlistat can promote significant weight loss and symptoms of relief in obese patients with heart failure, as measured by 6-minute walk test and functional capacity. The lipid profile improved. Orlistat was safe and well tolerated.Congestive Heart Failure 11(3):118-23. -
Article: Stepped care approach to smoking cessation in patients hospitalized for coronary artery disease.
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ABSTRACT: Smoking cessation is an important goal for smokers with coronary artery disease (CAD) because it reduces cardiac morbidity and mortality. Effective interventions for cigarette smokers with CAD exist, but they often are considered to be intensive and expensive. Stepped-care interventions have been proposed as a promising way to allocate smoking cessation treatments in a cost-effective manner. Stepped care refers to the practice of initiating treatment with low-intensity intervention and then exposing treatment failures to successively more intense interventions. To address the efficacy of this approach, 254 cigarette smokers hospitalized with CAD were provided a brief cessation intervention. The participants then were assigned randomly to either a more intensive stepped-care treatment (counseling and nicotine patch therapy) or no additional treatment. Outcomes were point-prevalent abstinence measured 3 months and 1 year after hospital discharge. Stepped-care treatment increased smoking cessation rates from 42% to 53% during a 3-month follow-up period (P =.05), but showed little effect at the 1-year follow-up assessment, as evidenced by a cessation rate for the minimal intervention group of 36% versus 39% for the stepped-care group (P =.36). A stepped-care approach to smoking cessation increased short-but not long-term point-prevalent abstinence in patients with CAD. For improvement of long-term effectiveness, refinement of the timing and content of stepped-care interventions needs to occur.Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation 23(3):176-82. -
Article: Thermal therapy: a viable adjunct in the treatment of heart failure?
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ABSTRACT: The aim of this work was to review and provide a summary of published literature on the clinical impact of thermal therapy (ie, warm water immersion, traditional sauna bathing, and dry infrared sauna) in patients with heart failure. Medline and Embase database literature searches were conducted, and studies that included measurement of heart failure-related clinical parameters were reviewed. Thermal therapy was found to have a positive impact on key heart failure-related parameters across multiple studies. Significant improvements were noted across a wide scope of heart failure-related parameters in the areas of (1) endothelial function, (2) hemodynamics, (3) cardiac geometry, (4) neurohormonal markers, and (5) quality of life. Of special note, thermal therapy also conveyed a strong antiarrhythmic effect in heart failure patients. The clinical evidence highlights repeatable and compelling data showing that thermal therapy may provide an important and viable adjunct in the treatment of heart failure.Congestive Heart Failure 14(4):180-6.
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2011
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Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS, USA
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