Quality of care a factor in heart health

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 56, No. 8, October 2014, Page 383 News

The quality of health care that people receive may be as important as controlling the risk factors--smoking, bad diet, and low exercise--that could lead to cardiovascular disease. These findings were revealed in a recent study conducted by an international team of scientists, including Simon Fraser University health sciences professor Dr Scott Lear.

The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiologic (PURE) study tracked more than 156 000 people in 17 countries and revealed that low-income countries, where people have the lowest risk factors for cardiovascular problems, have the highest rates of cardiovascular events and death. High-income countries, on the other hand, where people have the highest risk factors for heart conditions, have a lower rate of severe heart problems and deaths.

Study participants were from both urban and rural areas of four low-income countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe; 10 middle-income countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Iran, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, and Turkey; and three high-income countries: Canada, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates.

Dr Lear co-authored the article and is also the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation chair in cardiovascular prevention research at St. Paul's Hospital.

The article, "Cardiovascular Risk and Events in 17 Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries," is published in the 28 August 2014 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and is available online at www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1311890.

. Quality of care a factor in heart health. BCMJ, Vol. 56, No. 8, October, 2014, Page(s) 383 - News.


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