Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health

ReACH Studies

Since 2013, the Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health (CBCH) has been working to identify modifiable Emergency Department and interpersonal factors associated with poor medical and psychological prognosis in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. The early success of the parent study has allowed for several ancillary and related R01s which study PTSD and cardiovascular outcomes in acute coronary syndrome and stroke survivors, including:

  1. ReACH Adherence: This ancillary R01 targets medication adherence intervention in the post ACS population that may decrease risk for recurrent cardiac events and mortality among patients who develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the ACS. This grant has collected all study data and is actively being analyzed by our investigator team.
  2. ReACH Patch: This R01 aims to identify targets for new interventions to reduce the doubled cardiac event recurrence and mortality risk faced by the 1 in 8 survivors of non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and unstable angina (UA) who develop PTSD secondary to their life-threatening cardiac event by testing whether NSTEMI/UA patients with PTSD have higher 24-hr heart rate (HR) and lower 24-hr heart rate variability (HRV) than those without PTSD. This grant has collected all study data and is actively being analyzed by our investigator team.
  3. ReACH Stroke: This R01 expands the work done in ReACH and ReACH Adherence to study the association between PTSD, medication adherence, and cardiovascular prognosis among survivors of strokes and TIAs.
  4. PHS: The previous ReACH R01s have illustrated a new model of “posthospital syndrome” (PHS)which suggests that the stress of hospitalization itself confers increased risk of rehospitalization because it places patients in a transient state of generalized risk. The aim of this study is to test this model, and identify hospital environment and patient factors that place patients at risk.
  5. PHS MOVE: This R01 builds off of the work being done in the PHS R01 and evaluates prolonged sedentary behavior as a potential therapeutic target for intervention after an ACS event.
  6. K01: This Career Development Award is focused on investigating the mechanisms underlying posttraumatic stress and cardiovascular disease in women. This grant has collected all study data and is actively being analyzed by our investigator team.
  7. Stroke Sleep: This R01 builds off of the work being done in the Reach Stroke R01 and evaluates prolonged sedentary behavior as a potential therapeutic target for intervention after a stroke/TIA event.
  8. RAVEN: This R01 builds off of the work being done in the Reach Stroke R01 and evaluates the difference in psychological and long-term cardiovascular outcomes associated with patients evaluated in the Emergency Department versus rapid outpatient clinic follow-up.
  9. KL2: This Career Development Award is focused on investigating the impact of the emergency department experience on the partners of patients hospitalized for stroke/TIA.