About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether simple electronic information letters can increase patient activation and improve risk-factor monitoring in adults in Denmark with ischemic heart disease (IHD) who have LDL cholesterol above the recommended treatment target. A subgroup of participants with elevated lipoprotein(a) \[Lp(a)\] will also be randomized to receive an additional information letter.
The main questions the study aims to answer are:
* Does sending an electronic letter about elevated LDL cholesterol increase the proportion of patients who have at least one LDL-cholesterol test within 6 months? * Among patients with ischemic heart disease and elevated Lp(a), does receiving an information letter about Lp(a) increase patient activation, reflected by cardiometabolic risk-factor monitoring?
Because this is a randomized trial, researchers will compare people who receive the electronic letter(s) with people who do not receive any letter to determine whether the letters encourage patients to take action, such as obtaining laboratory tests or contacting their doctor.
Participants will:
* Receive an electronic letter through Denmark's national digital mailbox system (Digital Post) or receive no letter, depending on random assignment. * Continue their usual health care, with no additional visits, treatments, or procedures required for the study. * Have all study information collected from existing Danish nationwide health registries.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Alive on identification date
Diagnosis of IHD defined as either an A or B diagnosis code of I20-I25 in the Danish National Patient Register first registered > 6 months prior to identification date
Latest available LDL-C is over 1.4 mmol/l measured up to 3 years prior to the identification date, defined using NPU codes NPU01568, NPU10171 or DNK35308 from the Danish National Laboratory Register
Age >= 18 years and <= 85 on identification date
Disqualifiers
Nursing home residents
Exemption from and thus not access to Digital Post
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- LDL-C information letter
- Lp(a) information letter
Treatment groups
Locations
1Map coordinates are unavailable for these locations. Locations are shown below instead.