The following is a summary of “Cardiovascular Health Assessment in Routine Cancer Follow-up in Community Settings: Survivor Risk Awareness and Perspectives,” published in the January 2024 issue of Oncology by Weaver et al.
In the context of cancer survivorship, where cardiovascular health (CVH) assessment and counseling are recommended, understanding survivor profiles and perspectives is pivotal for effective implementation in community settings. This cross-sectional analysis draws from an ongoing NCI Community Oncology Research Program trial focused on an Electronic Health Record (EHR) heart health tool for cancer survivors (WF-1804CD).
Enrolled survivors (n=502, 95.6% female; mean time since diagnosis = 4.2 years), predominantly with breast cancer (79.7%), underwent a comprehensive evaluation of CVH factors. Common cardiovascular comorbidities, including high cholesterol (48.3%), hypertension (47.8%), obesity (33.1%), and diabetes (20.5%), were prevalent among survivors. While concordance between self-reported and EHR-based categorization existed for certain factors (smoking, BMI, blood pressure), gaps and discrepancies were noted for cholesterol, glucose, and A1C. Less than half of the survivors had ideal/non-missing levels for physical activity (48.0%), BMI (18.9%), cholesterol (17.9%), blood pressure (14.1%), healthy diet (11.0%), and glucose/HbA1c (6.0%).
Notably, 30.5% of survivors received high cardiotoxicity potential cancer treatment. Despite these challenges, a significant majority (78.9%) of survivors agreed that oncology providers should address heart health during care encounters. The findings underscore the potential role of tools facilitating CVH discussions in bridging knowledge gaps among survivors in community settings, thereby contributing to more comprehensive and tailored survivor care.
Source: bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-024-11912-8