CDC National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program

Wisconsin
Capacity Building

In 2000, CDC provided the Wisconsin Division of Public Health capacity building funding to support heart disease and stroke prevention initiatives within the state. In addition to capacity building funding, the state received CDC funding to implement a public health demonstration project addressing prevention of heart disease and stroke recurrence and complications.

Burden of Heart Disease and Stroke

• More than 1 out of 4 deaths in Wisconsin are due to heart disease. (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 11,451 Wisconsinites died from heart disease in 2006 (24.8% of total deaths in Wisconsin). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)
• 2,829 Wisconsinites died from stroke in 2006 (6.1% of total deaths in Wisconsin). (National Vital Statistics Report, 2009.)

See the Wisconsin Department of Health Services report, The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Wisconsin 2005, [PDF–3.47M] and the Great Lakes Regional Stroke Network report, The Burden of Stroke in the Great Lakes Region 2008, [PDF–746K] for more burden statistics.

• According to 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey results, adults in Wisconsin reported having the following risk factors for heart disease and stroke:
  
  • 26.3% had high blood pressure
  • 34.9% of those screened reported having high blood cholesterol
  • 6.5% had diabetes
  • 19.6% were current smokers
  • 62.3% were overweight or obese (Body Mass Index greater than or equal to 25.0)
  • 44.9% reported no exercise in the prior 30 days
  • 75.6% ate fruit and vegetables less than 5 times a day

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitate collaboration among public and private sector partners, such as managed care organizations, health insurers, federally funded health centers, businesses, priority population organizations, and emergency response agencies.
• Define the burden of heart disease and stroke and assess existing population-based strategies for primary and secondary prevention of heart disease and stroke within the state.
• Develop and update a comprehensive state plan for heart disease and stroke prevention with emphasis on heart-healthy policies development, physical and social environments change, and disparities elimination (e.g., based on geography, gender, race or ethnicity, or socioeconomic status).
• Identify culturally appropriate approaches to promote heart disease and stroke prevention among racial, ethnic, and other priority populations.
• Use population-based public health strategies to increase public awareness of the heart disease and stroke urgency, the signs and symptoms of heart disease and stroke, and the need to call 9-1-1.

State Highlights

• In 2008, the Wisconsin Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (HDSP) Program launched the Wisconsin Cardiac Rehabilitation Outcomes Registry (WiCORE), a web-based, de-identified, patient-level, cardiac rehabilitation registry. The purpose of WiCORE is to improve management of high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol and improve quality of care by enhancing a statewide outpatient cardiac rehabilitation outcomes registry. The Wisconsin HDSP Program partnered with both the Wisconsin Society for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Health and Rehabilitation (WISCPHR) and the University of Wisconsin Division of Information Technology (DoIT). As of September 2010, 56% (70/125) of Wisconsin cardiac rehabilitation programs participate, and 24,592 records contain outcomes data. WiCORE has also expanded into seven additional states.
• In September 2010, the HDSP Program completed a yearlong project to train community health centers on quality improvement principles using blood pressure measurement standardization. The HDSP Program also developed, in collaboration with various partners, a blood pressure measurement improvement toolkit for use by federally qualified health centers, cardiac rehabilitation programs, and individual health care providers.
• The HDSP Program completed work on the enabling conditions for a WiCORE-like registry for outpatient stroke rehabilitation. The final 750 pages of transcript consisted of in-depth interviews and focus groups, an inventory of 110 Wisconsin stroke programs, a structured survey of 64 respondents, and an in-depth literature search.
• The HDSP Program played an active role in program integration efforts. For example, the Program collaborated with the Tobacco Control Program to heighten awareness of Wisconsin’s new smoke-free workplace law. HDSP also supports efforts of the Program Integration Demonstration Project.

For more information visit the heart disease and stroke prevention program in Wisconsin.

To view county-level data, visit our interactive map site.