Evidence-based heart disease and stroke prevention policy: Development of a tool to assess evidence quality

The right evidence can assist policymakers in making better decisions to help prevent chronic disease. Evidence-based policy requires high quality evidence which can accurately predict the health outcomes and other consequences of existing policies and of policy initiatives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (CDC DHDSP) is developing a policy rating system to assess the extent to which states enact evidence-based laws that address chronic disease prevention. The rating system will include application of an evidence hierarchy to assess the quality of the evidentiary support for various heart disease and stroke prevention policy strategies. This presentation will summarize the literature on evidence hierarchies for policymaking, describe the development of CDC DHDSP's Quality of the Supporting Evidence Assessment Tool, and discuss a process that can be used to identify policy evidence. It will also report the results of a pilot assessment of two heart disease and stroke prevention policy strategies: 1) blood pressure screening in community settings and 2) the use of accountable care organizations for chronic disease management. Finally, this presentation will outline plans for dissemination of the tool to policymakers and the public health community who are interested in assessing heart disease and stroke prevention policies and policy initiatives.