Perspective:

The following are 10 points to remember about this scientific statement from the American Heart Association:

1. Patient-centered outcomes of cardiovascular health beyond mortality and morbidity outcomes are uncommonly used by providers today.

2. Measuring patient-centered health status is critical for assessing cardiovascular health; these measures should include symptom burden (e.g., angina), functional status, and health-related quality of life.

3. There are validated, disease-specific instruments for many cardiovascular diseases that allow for the quantification of patient-centered outcomes of cardiovascular health. Instruments exist for coronary artery disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and peripheral arterial disease.

4. Many of the instruments for measuring cardiovascular health are widely available in multiple languages, and administration times are typically between 5 and 15 minutes.

5. Patient-centered health status surveys have been used successfully in clinical trials and observational studies, but are underutilized in routine practice.

6. Other factors and comorbidities (e.g., depression) also contribute to the measurement of health status in cohorts such as the elderly and those with recent acute disease processes (e.g., acute myocardial infarction).

7. Patient-reported health status independently predicts hard outcomes like mortality, cardiovascular events, hospitalization, and costs of care; this needs to be recognized for risk adjustment and health care planning.

8. Patient-reported health status is critical for shared decision making between patients and providers.

9. Assessments of patient-reported health status can facilitate monitoring and disease surveillance for providers; a greater focus on health status has the potential to enhance the patient-centeredness of care.

10. Much more research is needed to better understand what factors influence patient health status, how these measures respond to interventions, and how we can best use these measures in routine practice and disease surveillance.

(Note: The 10 points are adapted from Table 1 in this manuscript.)