Table 3.
Example Research Needs and Future Directions
| Enhanced definition and scoring and potentially different metrics for CVH in pregnancy, at birth, and during the earliest years of life (especially <2 y of age); enhanced data collection at individual and population levels during these life stages |
| Assessment of the new CVH scoring algorithm across the life course and in diverse populations to understand its utility for describing individual and population health, strengths and limitations, and trends in CVH over time |
| Focused research to tie classification of existing metrics at the youngest ages based on guidelines (eg, PA) to meaningful outcomes, eg, CVH or BMI at older ages in childhood or subclinical CVD in midlife |
| Investigation of novel measures or biomarkers to represent overall CVH at young age |
| Development and validation of short, clinically feasible surveys for each age group/developmental stage in children |
| Utility of new CVH score for predicting diverse health outcomes, including total mortality, healthy longevity (compression of morbidity), cardiovascular events, and other chronic disease outcomes, especially in younger people |
| Research driving to consensus on best tools for assessment of health behaviors in clinical settings |
| Greater routine and standardized assessment of diet, PA, nicotine exposure, and sleep health in clinical and population settings to facilitate CVH measurement and monitoring |
| Greater routine and standardized assessment of psychological health and well-being and SDOH, as well as their associations with CVH in clinical and population settings |
| Discovery, demonstration, and dissemination of successful strategies (eg, policies, clinical strategies, community interventions, individual behavioral changes) to preserve or improve overall CVH in individuals and in diverse settings and populations |
| Research on other metrics of sleep related to CVH and interventions to improve CVH through improved sleep health |
| Enhanced medical education and training to equip clinicians with the tools to assess CVH, to implement motivational interviewing, to assist patients with behavioral change or maintenance, to promote wellness strategies, and to avoid bias and stigma around adverse health behaviors and factors (eg, nicotine exposure or obesity) |
| Deployment of apps, online tools, and code for implementation of CVH scoring in consumer-facing, clinical, population, and research settings |
| Optimization of broad-based communication strategies to promote and preserve CVH and tailored communication strategies for diverse cultural settings and demographic groups |
Apps indicates applications; BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease; CVH, cardiovascular health; PA, physical activity; and SDOH, social determinants of health.