Support for Patient-Centered Cardiovascular Risk Counseling With Two Components of the DECADE Intervention: Findings...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular disease prevention
• Primary care interventions
• Health behavior change

Background:

• Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) pose a significant health burden.
• Health-conscious behavior is key to preventing CVD.
• The DECADE intervention aims to aid primary care physicians in CVD risk counseling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of two components of the DECADE intervention.
• To assess the impact on patient activation and health behavior.
• To support physicians in cardiovascular risk counseling.

Main Methods:

• Cluster-randomized 2x2 trial in Germany with 76 physicians and 797 patients.
• Intervention groups received DECADE patient materials, follow-up consultations, or both.
• Primary endpoint: change in Patient Activation Measure (PAM13) at 6 months.

Main Results:

• DECADE follow-up consultations showed a small, significant positive effect on PAM13 scores (1.14 points, p=0.033).
• DECADE patient materials had a non-significant effect on PAM13 scores (0.30 points, p=0.57).
• All study arms demonstrated improvements in patient health behavior.

Conclusions:

• DECADE follow-up consultations may support physicians in CVD risk counseling.
• The clinical relevance of the PAM13 score improvement requires further investigation.
• A long-term trial is recommended to confirm clinical effects.