CA9 Imperatives for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. (Cardiology).

CA9 IMPERATIVES FOR THE PREVENTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. Henry A. Okafor, MD, and D. Johniene Thomas, MSPH. Department of Internal Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tenn.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and its impact is even more pronounced in the African American population. Many risk factors have been identified and several studies have shown the efficacy of risk factor modification in the prevention of CVD. Nevertheless, the prevalence and consequences of CVD account for more deaths per year than the next seven leading causes of death combined. Selected imperatives that can be implemented at the clinician's office to aggresively prevent the development of CVD follow:

* Screen all new patients for CVD risk factors.

* Aggressive treatment of identified risk factors.

* Aggressively monitor patient compliance to treatment regimen.

* Educate all office personnel in CVD risk factor identification.

* Instruct office personnel to place in patient's hand disease-specific, culturally-sensitive patient education material, and discuss freely with them their progress toward goal attainment.

* Addition of supervised exercise room adjacent to the patients' waiting area.

* Use culturally specific music in exercise room to enhance its use.

* Invite each patient twice to use exercise room: once when they register and again after triage.

* If computer equipped, develop web page for intensive patient education and follow-up.

* Encourage patient compliance to healthy eating habits and other life-style modifications.

* Become patient advocate via professional societies for the reduction of dietary fat in snack foods, especially those snack foods placed in schools.

* Participate in community-based health education initiatives and refer receptive patients.

* Participate in faith-based initiatives and refer appropriate patients.

* Role model desired health behaviors.