Evaluating A Preventive Heart Health Programme For Women At Midlife: Protocol For An Interrupted Time Series Design (Preprint)

<sec> <title>UNSTRUCTURED</title> Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women and the risk factors can be compounded by hormonal changes, especially in menopause transition. Positive health promotion through behavioural change strategy may be the most effective approach to reduce CVD mortality and morbidity. As healthcare providers play a critical role in identifying and managing CVD risk factors in women, this highlights the need to explore and assess the barriers and facilitators to implementing preventive heart health care in Singapore. A prospective mixed-methods study utilising both quantitative and qualitative research methods for programme implementation and evaluation through an interrupted time series (ITS) study design with a focus on behavioural change will be conducted. An A-B-A reversal design will be used to assess the feasibility and acceptability of behavioural change strategy to increase heart-healthy habits. 100 women aged 45-65 years-old will be recruited. Quantitative data regarding participants’ clinical status, symptoms, and self-administered surveys will also be collected. 15 participants and healthcare providers will be engaged for a qualitative semi-structured survey and interview for the exploratory evaluation of this study. This study aims to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a preventive heart health programme targeted for women with CVD risk factors. </sec>