Objectives Meta-analyses using individual patient data (IPD) rather than aggregated data are increasingly applied to analyze sources of heterogeneity between trials and have only recently been applied to unravel multicomponent, complex interventions. This study reflects on methodological challenges …

Coronary heart disease is the most occurring type of cardiovascular disease. It caused 7.22 million deaths in 2002 and its prevalence is estimated to keep on increasing. Everyday diet was shown to be of influence and added sugar was linked with adverse health condition. It could therefore be a precursor …

OBJECTIVE: Secondary prevention is an important part of cardiovascular risk management. Since 1996, an inventory of cardiovascular risk factors and their treatment has been carried out periodically among patients with coronary heart disease within the framework of the European Action on Secondary Prevention …

The author reflects on the need for a comprehensive assessment of the structure and quality of the family or social network given that relationships are affected after the diagnosis of a cardiovascular disease. He points out that families may experience changing needs for support during the disease trajectory …

Objective Although regular physical activity is an effective secondary prevention strategy for patients with a chronic disease, it is unclear whether patients change their daily physical activity after being diagnosed. Therefore, the aims of this study were to (1) describe changes in levels of physical …

Objectives: to compare changes over time in the in-hospital mortality and the mortality from discharge to 30 days post-discharge for six highly prevalent discharge diagnoses in acutely admitted older patients as well as to assess the effect of separately analysing the in-hospital mortality and the mortality …

Background To describe the prevalence of multimorbidity and to study the association between acute and chronic diseases in acutely hospitalized older patients Methods Prospective cohort study conducted between 2006 and 2008 in three teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. 639 patients aged 65 years and …

Current guidelines on secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease recommend nurse-coordinated care (NCC) as an effective intervention. However, NCC programmes differ widely and the efficacy of NCC components has not been studied. To investigate the efficacy of NCC and its components in secondary prevention …

Full text met een HU Account Objective: To quantify diversity in components of self-management interventions and explore which components are associated with improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), …

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention guidelines stress the importance of smoking cessation and recommend intensive follow-up. To guide the development of such cessation support strategies, we analysed the characteristics that are associated with successful smoking cessation after an acute …