NHLBI
Dyslipidemia Detection for WV Families
This website describes a research program funded by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute entitled, "Dyslipidemia Detection in WV Families". The four-year program was developed to address disparities in heart disease in WV by improving our understanding of the factors that influence participation in health screening programs.
Background
The Problem
Research has shown that Individuals in rural and impoverished communities are at increased risk for heart disease due to:
- Limited access to health care,
- Higher rates of risk behaviors such as smoking, lack of regular exercise, and poor nutrition, and
- Lower participation in preventive and diagnostic health care practices, such as regular doctor visits and health screenings
West Virginians are one example of a rural, impoverished population that is at high risk for developing heart disease. In 1998, for example, West Virginia had the highest rate of death due to heart disease in the nation.
CARDIAC
CARDIAC (Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities) is a school-based public health program aimed at reducing coronary heart disease. CARDIAC was developed in 1998 and is in place throughout all counties of WV in the public schools. It screens 5th grade children for heart disease and diabetes risk factors, such as high cholesterol levels and being overweight. CARDIAC was designed to reduce the traditional barriers to health care by offering a free service in schools during the regular school day. The traditional barriers to health care are:- Access to Care
- Cost of Care
- Transportation
- Time
Despite offering a free and convenient health screening, less than 50% of the eligible children have participated in CARDIAC each year.
Our Research Project
We know that poverty and limited access to health care can influence an individual’s beliefs about health over time. These health beliefs may persist even when the barriers to care have been removed.
Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a guide, we began a four-year project to learn more about health beliefs in WV and to improve participation in CARDIAC. This project, titled “Dyslipidemia Detection in WV Families”, was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) within the National Institutes of Health.Beyond CARDIAC and West Virginia, the research project was developed to help us understand the health beliefs of children and adults so that we can more effectively recruit families to programs to improve their health.
The Dyslipidemia Detection grant studied health beliefs about the following topics to develop an intervention to increase participation in CARDIAC:
- Heart disease
- Health screenings
- Children and health
- Prevention
- Health care in general
- Demands on time and resources
- Needles