Simplified Cardiovascular Management Study: A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Evaluate the Effects of a Simplified Cardiovascular Management Program in Tibet, China and Haryana, India

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability in not only developed, but also developing countries. There are well-established interventions such as lifestyle modification and drug therapies, i.e., aspirin and low-dose diuretics, that along with their consistent use, can help alleviate these burdens if the practicalities of how to deliver such care to large numbers in resource-poor settings at low cost can be resolved. One particular cost-effective approach for secondary prevention of CVD is to identify and manage individuals at high CVD risk in order to prevent or delay events. This approach has been tested in the rural Andhra Pradesh Cardiovascular Prevention Study in India and is currently being implemented in rural areas of northern China in the China Rural Health Initiative funded by NHLBI.

This project aims to address the highly prevalent problem of CVD in even more remote and poor areas of China and India that have received only minimal attention so far, specifically Tibet, China and Haryana, India. This pilot project will be a cluster-randomized controlled interventional trial that will include a total of 15 villages in 6 townships in Gongbujiangda County and 12 villages in 6 townships in Linzhou County in Tibet, China and 12 villages in the state of Haryana in India. The study will last for one year. The villages will be randomized to receive either the intervention package or usual care. At baseline, village-wide screenings will be done to identify high-risk individuals in the selected villages who will then be followed throughout the study to about one year.

The interventional model will make use of a highly simplified cardiovascular disease management plan targeting lifestyle modification and utilization of basic drug regimens to help overcome the barriers in prevention and management of CVD in these areas with extremely limited economic and natural resources, minimal public awareness to the problem, and a lack of trained healthcare professionals.

Electronic blood pressure monitors will be used in all villages to measure the blood pressures of these individuals. However accuracy of the electronic blood pressure monitor measurements needs to be considered due to Tibet's high altitude. A study to validate and calibrate the selected blood pressure monitor model in both plains and high altitude areas will thus be undertaken using the validation procedure published by the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) to ensure accuracy.