Forty of the 54 included studies demonstrated improvements in at least one Life's Simple 7 metric, though overall study quality was fair and there is insufficient data to recommend a specific intervention.
Systematic Review
Do community-engaged and community-based participatory research interventions improve American Heart Association Life's Simple 7 metrics in African American adults?
While community-engaged research often improves at least one Life's Simple 7 metric in African American adults, current evidence is of fair quality and insufficient to recommend a specific intervention, highlighting the need for more rigorous, gender-diverse studies.
BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and African Americans (AA) have a disproportionately greater burden of CVD as compared to Whites. The American Heart Association (AHA) Life's Simple 7 (LS7) framework outlines goals for attaining ideal cardiovascular health. Yet, there is a lack of evidence summarizing best practices to maximize LS7 attainment. The objective of the present study was to systematically review the extant peer-reviewed literature on community-engaged and community-based participatory research (CBPR) aimed at improving one or more LS7 metrics among AA. METHODS: PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase databases were searched. We included articles that reported quantitative results for one or more of the following LS7 metrics: physical activity, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking, and glycemia. We included analyses with a greater than 50% AA study population focused on adults (≥18 years of age). RESULTS: Of the 1008 unique studies identified, 54 met inclusion criteria; 27 of which were randomized controlled trials. 50% of studies assessed more than one LS7 metric but only two studies evaluated all seven of the LS7 metrics. No studies had a high proportion of AA males. 40 studies improved at least one LS7 metric at the study end-point. Formative research was used in many studies to guide intervention design. Studies were of varying quality, but overall rated "fair" using a modified approach to the National Institute of Health quality assessment tool. CONCLUSION: There is insufficient data to recommend a specific community-engaged or CBPR intervention to improve attainment of LS7 metrics among AA. Future studies using rigorous methodology with increased gender diversity and utilizing the AHA LS7 framework are required to establish a validated program to improve LS7 in AAs.
Elgazzar et al. (Tue,) conducted a systematic review in Cardiovascular disease risk factors (Life's Simple 7). Community-engaged and community-based participatory research (CBPR) interventions vs. Various (usual care, minimal intervention, or pre-intervention baseline) was evaluated on Improvement in one or more Life's Simple 7 metrics (physical activity, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure, BMI, smoking, glycemia). Forty of the 54 included studies demonstrated improvements in at least one Life's Simple 7 metric, though overall study quality was fair and there is insufficient data to recommend a specific intervention.