Outcomes of a Pilot Intervention Study for Young Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease Based on Their Family History

Abstract

Background Lifestyle choices have a significant impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Interventions to promote a heart-healthy lifestyle in young adults at long-term high-risk for CVD are needed to decease the burden of CVD. However, few interventions with this purpose have been developed. Objective Examine the effect of a pilot intervention in young adults with a family history of CVD that used three-generation pedigrees, risk factor information, and counseling on heart disease knowledge, perceived CVD risk, and intention to engage in a heart-healthy lifestyle. Methods A pre-post test design, with within-group analysis, was used to examine the effect of the intervention. A paired T-test and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests were used to examine the changes in heart disease knowledge, perceived risk, and behavioral intention from baseline to post-intervention. Cohen's d were calculated to examine the effect of the intervention on study measures. Additionally, Spearman's Rho was used to examine the associations between post-intervention perceived risk, post-intervention behavioral intention, and family history. Results The sample for the pilot study included 15 mostly Caucasian, mostly female, healthy young adults between the ages of 18-25 years old. The intervention was effective at increasing CVD knowledge (p=0.02) and had a medium effect on perceived risk and intention to engage in a heart-healthy lifestyle (Cohen's d from .48-.58). There were significant associations between post-intervention perceived risk and post-intervention intention to exercise and the participants’ family history of coronary heart disease (r=.62, p=.014 and r=.55, p=.035, respectively). Conclusions Interventions are needed to increase individuals’ aware of their long-term CVD risk and to improve their ability to make lifestyle changes. Although this intervention was only tested in a small sample, it shows promise to improve heart disease knowledge, perceived lifetime CVD risk, and may effect longer-term risk for CVD.

Are College Students Interested in Family Health History Education? A Large Needs Assessment Survey Study

“…A survey study examined young adults (aged between 18-29) and found that compared with younger adults, older adults tended to have more positive attitudes regarding the power of FHH on personal health outcomes, and are more likely to report an interest in using FHH collection tools [45]. Furthermore, among limited FHH research focused on young adult population, the majority of their participants were female [4,7,14,15,45]. This may explain why these groups in our study might be more motivated to seek FHH education.…”

“…In addition, a number of studies suggested that an accurate and comprehensive FHH can motivate individuals to adopt healthy behaviors, such as exercise, healthy eating, and undergoing regular medical screenings [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Existing FHH-based health interventions targeting the young adult population [4,7,[13][14][15] also demonstrated that FHH interventions can successfully increase participants' knowledge towards FHH, increase their understanding towards personal disease susceptibility, and motivate the adoption of healthy behaviors.…”

Effectiveness of health literacy intervention on cardiovascular diseases among university students of Pakistan

“…Other study launched a holistic approached intervention to improve physical activity, environment and healthy food for three years and claimed that Body Mass Index (BMI) and fitness has considerably improved among school students [16]. Pilot study on individuals with a positive family history of CVD desired results have been depicted by improved and healthy lifestyle among respondents after delivering informative lectures [17]. A positive impact of health education intervention was achieved in a study appropriate communication methods can increase the impact of HE and prognosis of disease.…”

The ART of conversation: feasibility and acceptability of a pilot peer intervention to help transition complex HIV-positive people from hospital to community

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