Introduction/Purpose: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and in the United States alone, CVD causes nearly 840,000 deaths annually. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a tool to assess brain activity, researchers have identified some brain-behavior connections and predicted several self-management behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the sample characteristics of individuals with CVD who participated in fMRI studies. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus. No date or language restrictions were applied and research methodology filters were used. In October 2017, 1659 titles and abstracts were identified. Inclusion criteria were: (1) utilized an empirical study design, (2) used fMRI to assess brain activity, and (3) focused on patients with CVD-related chronic illness. Articles were excluded if they: were theory or opinion articles, focused on mental or neuropathic illness, included non-human samples, or were not written in English. After duplicates were removed (230), 1,429 titles and abstracts were reviewed based on inclusion criteria; 1,243 abstracts were then excluded. A total of 186 studies were reviewed in their entirety; after additional review, 142 were further excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria. Forty-four articles met criteria and were included in the final review. An evidence table was created to capture the demographics of each study sample. Results: Ninety eight percent of the studies did not report the racial or ethnic composition of their sample. Most studies (66%) contained more men than women. Mean age ranged from 38 to 78 years; 77% reported mean age ≥50 years. The most frequently studied CVD was stroke (86%), while hypertension was studied the least (2%). Conclusion: Understanding brain-behavior relationships can help researchers and practitioners tailor interventions to meet specific patient needs. These findings suggest that additional studies are needed that focus on populations historically underrepresented in fMRI research. Researchers should thoughtfully consider diversity and purposefully sample groups by including individuals that are: women, from diverse backgrounds, younger, and diagnosed with a variety of CVD-related illnesses. Identifying and addressing these gaps by studying more representative samples will help healthcare providers reduce disparities and tailor interventions for all CVD populations.

中文翻译：

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探索对心脏相关慢性病患者进行的功能磁共振成像研究中不同样本的代表性：重点系统评价


简介/目的：心血管疾病 (CVD) 是全世界死亡的主要原因，仅在美国，CVD 每年就导致近 84 万人死亡。研究人员利用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）（一种评估大脑活动的工具）确定了一些大脑与行为的联系，并预测了几种自我管理行为。本研究的目的是检查参与 fMRI 研究的 CVD 患者的样本特征。方法：在 PubMed、CINAHL 和 Scopus 中进行文献检索。没有应用日期或语言限制，并且使用了研究方法过滤器。 2017 年 10 月，确定了 1659 个标题和摘要。纳入标准为：(1) 采用实证研究设计，(2) 使用功能磁共振成像来评估大脑活动，(3) 重点关注患有 CVD 相关慢性病的患者。如果文章符合以下条件，则被排除：是理论或观点文章，重点关注精神或神经疾病，包含非人类样本，或者不是用英语撰写的。删除重复项 (230) 后，根据纳入标准对 1,429 篇标题和摘要进行了审查；随后排除了 1,243 篇摘要。总共审查了 186 项研究；经进一步审查，142​​人因不符合纳入标准而被进一步排除。 44 篇文章符合标准并纳入最终评审。创建了一个证据表来捕获每个研究样本的人口统计数据。结果：百分之九十八的研究没有报告样本的种族或民族构成。大多数研究（66%）的男性多于女性。平均年龄为38岁至78岁； 77% 的人报告平均年龄≥50 岁。 最常研究的心血管疾病是中风（86%），而高血压研究最少（2%）。结论：了解大脑与行为的关系可以帮助研究人员和从业者定制干预措施，以满足特定患者的需求。这些发现表明，需要进行更多研究，重点关注历史上在功能磁共振成像研究中代表性不足的人群。研究人员应深思熟虑地考虑多样性，并有目的地对群体进行抽样，包括以下个体：女性、来自不同背景、较年轻、被诊断患有各种 CVD 相关疾病。通过研究更具代表性的样本来识别和解决这些差距将有助于医疗保健提供者减少差异并为所有 CVD 人群制定干预措施。