Authors: Hall, R., Tusevliak, N., Wu, C.F., Ibrahim, Q., Schulze, K., Khan, A., Desai, D., Awadalla, P., Broet, P., Dummer, T.J.B., Hicks, J., Tardif, J-C., Teo, K., Vena, J., Lee, D., Friedrich, M., Anand, S., Tu, J. Background The intent of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort is to understand the early determinants of subclinical cardiac and vascular disease and progression in adults selected from existing cohorts; the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPTP), the Prospective Urban and Rural Evaluation (PURE) cohort and, the Montreal Heart Institute Biobank. We evaluated how well the CAHHM-Health Services Research (CAHHM-HSR) sub-cohort reflects the Canadian population. Methods Cross-sectional design among prospective cohort of community-dwelling adults 35-69 years of age who met the CAHHM inclusion criteria and, a cohort of adults 35-69 years of age who responded to the 2015 Canadian Community Health Survey-Rapid Response (CCHS-RR) module. The INTERHEART risk score was calculated at the individual level with means and proportions reported at the overall and provincial level. Results There are modest differences between CAHHM-HSR study participants and the CCHS- RR respondents in age (56.3 vs 51.7 mean years), proportion of males (44.9% vs 49.3%), and mean INTERHEART risk score (9.7 vs 10.1). Larger differences were observed in post-secondary education (86.8% vs 70.2%), Chinese ethnicity (11.0 % vs 3.3%), obesity (23.2% vs 29.3%), current smokers (6.1% vs 18.4%) and having no cardiac testing (30.4% vs 55.9%). Conclusions CAHHM-HSR participants are older, of higher socioeconomic status, and their mean INTERHEART risk score is similar. Differing sampling strategies and missing data, may explain some differences between the CAHHM-HSR cohort and Canadian community dwelling adults and should be considered when using the CAHHM-HSR for scientific research.   Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjco.2020.07.013 Last Updated on August 20, 2020

Authors: Vanessa DeClercq, Todd Duhamel, Olga Theou, Scott Kehler Purpose The aim of this study was to identify lifestyle factors in males and females that are associated with a greater degree of frailty in a Canadian cohort. Methods Cross-sectional data analysis from participants aged 30−74 yrs of the Atlantic PATH cohort. Inclusion criteria included completion of mental health questionnaires and ≥1 vital measure (n = 9133, 70% female, mean age 55 yrs). A frailty index was created based on 38 items with higher values indicating increasing frailty. The association between lifestyle factors and frailty was assessed by logistic regression. Results 805 participants had a high level of frailty (frailty index ≥0.30). There was a significant interaction among sex, age, and lifestyle factors such as smoking status (P < 0.001), alcohol consumption (P < 0.001), physical activity level (P = 0.005), time spent sitting (P < 0.001) and sleeping (P < 0.001) on frailty. Smoking was harmful whereas sleep was protective for both males and females (<60 yrs). Females (<60yrs) that sat for ≥4 h/day were more likely to be highly frail whereas females (all ages) that consumed alcohol at least occasionally were less likely to be highly frail. Males, but not females, that engaged in a high level of physical activity were less likely to have a high level of frailty. Conclusions Higher frailty is more prevalent among participants with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors related to smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary and physical activity level, diet, and sleep. Differences in lifestyle behaviors of males and females of specific ages should be considered for managing frailty levels. Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104207 Last Updated on August 20, 2020