Inflammation and Cardiometabolic Risk in African American Women Is Reduced by a Pilot Community-Based Educational Intervention

J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2016 Feb;25(2):188-99. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2014.5109. Epub 2015 Aug 11.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for women, and African Americans have higher rates of CVD mortality than do other racio/ethnic groups. Women in community settings can benefit from preventive interventions, yet few investigations of successful programs have been conducted and evaluated in high-risk women, especially for metabolic syndrome. The purpose of our study was to pilot and assess the effectiveness of a 4-month pre-/post-CVD preventive educational intervention in improving knowledge, clinical risk profiles, adoption of heart-healthy lifestyles, inflammatory burden, and cardiometabolic risk in African American women in local communities.

Methods: Forty-two African American women (mean age 59 years) enrolled in the 4-month educational Cardiovascular Disease Preventive Intervention Program in Sacramento, CA, in 2010. Participants completed knowledge-based surveys pre-/postintervention, provided clinical measures (weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and blood samples for analysis of fasting glucose and lipids, and inflammatory markers: tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α±, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and interleukin (IL)-12.

Results: The CVD risk profile of participants confirmed a high-risk cohort. Postintervention (n=31), there were significant (p<0.05) gains in knowledge for all symptoms of a heart attack and calling 911; improvements in clinical risk parameters, especially for waist circumference and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (p<0.05); and reductions in all the inflammatory markers assessed: TNF-α±by 16%, IL-12 by 20%, and hs-CRP by 26% (p<0.05). There was also a 60% reduction in the number of participants with metabolic syndrome (MetS) (p<0.05), driven primarily by reductions in triglycerides and glucose and a rise in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Conclusions: We demonstrated the efficacy of a pilot community-based educational cardiovascular program in reducing cardiometabolic risk and inflammation in high-risk African American women. Our successful culturally appropriate and sustainable model could be implemented as part of comprehensive efforts to improve community-based health outcomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Black or African American / education*
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / ethnology
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Community Health Services
  • Community-Based Participatory Research
  • Female
  • Health Behavior
  • Health Education / organization & administration*
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Health Promotion
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / ethnology
  • Inflammation / prevention & control*
  • Metabolic Syndrome / ethnology
  • Metabolic Syndrome / prevention & control*
  • Middle Aged
  • Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care
  • Pilot Projects
  • Program Development
  • Program Evaluation
  • Risk Factors