Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: The Effectiveness of Personalized Stroke Risk Communication - A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Brief Summary: The goal of this research is to improve communication to Veterans. The investigators want to improve how doctors and nurses talk to patients about the risk of heart attack and stroke. The investigators will give everyone in the study information about the risk for heart attack or stroke. The investigators will also provide information on how to reduce this risk. This information will be given in one of two ways. The investigators want to see which way of giving information works better for veterans. The investigators also want to assess the impact of personalized stroke risk communication to patients at risk for stroke on patient knowledge, beliefs, and preferences for risk reduction behaviors and evaluate the impact of personalized risk communication on medication adherence and blood pressure. The investigators plan to enroll approximately 100 veterans for this study. All veterans will be from the Durham VA Primary Care Clinics. The investigators will ask everyone to be in the study for 3 months.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Veterans 18 years or older hospitalized with stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack at Indianapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center and Houston Veteran Administration Medical Center;
* willing to participate;
* access to telephone;
* speaks and understands English;
* no severe cognitive impairments;
* life expectancy of at least 6 mos;
* willingness to follow-up in Veterans Administration outpatient care.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severe aphasia or cognitive impairment;
* active alcohol or substance abuse;
* cannot or unwilling to participate;
* does not speak or understand English;
* life expectancy less than 6 mos;
* no access to telephone;
* no Veterans Administration outpatient follow-up.
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* Enrolled in a Durham VA Primary Care Clinic for at least one year
* Age ≥ 55 years old
* Diagnosis ICD 401.0, 401.1, or 401.9 on outpatient electronic encounter forms in the prior year
* Received a prescription for hypertensive medication (ACE inhibitors, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretics, alpha1 blockers, and/or central alpha2 agonists) in the previous year
* Inadequate BP control based on an average of prior 12-month clinic BP measurements
* Have a baseline EKG within the last 5 years to evaluate the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Hospitalized at the DVAMC for a myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery revascularization, or diagnosis of metastatic cancer in the past 6 months
* Prior history of stroke
* Active diagnosis of psychosis or dementia documented in medical record
* Participating in another chronic disease self-management study
* Resident of a nursing home
* Does not have access to a telephone
* Refusal to provide informed consent
C: Inclusion Criteria

1. Ages 40 years or greater at the time of randomization.
2. Ischemic stroke or TIA no less than 14 days and no more than 6 months before randomization
3. Documentation of insulin resistance as defined by a value over 3.0 on the Homeostasis Model Assessment of insulin sensitivity (HOMA).
4. Both ability and willingness to provide informed consent.
5. Presence of none of the exclusion criteria.

Exclusion Criteria

Permanent Exclusions

1. Severely disabling stroke as indicated by an inability to participate in scheduled follow-up activities.
2. Persons whose ischemic stroke or TIA was related to structural cardiac lesion, significant head trauma, proximal arterial dissection or medical instrumentation.
3. Diabetes mellitus as defined by recent use of medication for diabetes as an out-patient (\*see note below) or two fasting plasma blood sugars \> 126 mg/dL.
4. HgbA1c \> 7.0%.
5. Irreversible medical conditions likely to affect short-term survival or ability to participate in the study protocol. These include:

   * Cancer or other chronic disease with poor prognosis (predicted survival of less than four years).
   * Severe neurologic or psychiatric disease that would complicate the evaluation of study outcomes (e.g., dementia or schizophrenia).
6. History of intolerance to any thiazolidinedione.
7. Pregnancy or desire to become pregnant.
8. Oral contraceptive use.
9. Ongoing use of oral corticosteroids.
10. History of heart failure
11. Active liver disease as defined by known liver disease accompanied by cirrhosis, significant cholestasis, portal hypertension, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatic synthetic dysfunction, or expected significant loss of liver function over the course of the study.
12. History of bladder cancer.
13. Current participation in a conflicting clinical trial. A conflicting clinical trial is defined as a trial with any of following:

    * Intervention that is known to affect the incidence of stroke or myocardial infarction.
    * Intervention that is an experimental drug.
    * Outcome that includes stroke or myocardial infarction.
    * Exclusion for participation in another trial.

Temporary Exclusions Persons with temporary exclusions may be enrolled as soon as the exclusion has resolved.

1. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) \>2.5 times the upper limit of normal.
2. Hemoglobin \<8.5 g/dl.
3. Moderate or severe pitting edema of the feet or legs (IRIS grade 3 or 4).
4. Carotid surgery or carotid stenting procedure scheduled (delay randomization until 2 weeks following procedure).
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Subjects aged 40 years or older.
* Patients with a clinical diagnosis of stroke; symptoms lasting 24 hours or more.
* Computed tomography (CT)-scan of the brain must either show a new infarct or be normal. Patients only with infarcts without clinical symptoms cannot be included.
* Inclusion shall take place before day 90 after stroke onset.
* Informed consent after verbal and written information.
* The patient must be able to walk either unaided or with a cane or a walker.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who are unable to understand the information, or who cannot cooperate, are excluded.
* Patients confined to a wheelchair or bed.
* CT-scanning showing intracranial haemorrhage or focal pathology other than infarction, cerebral atrophy, or leucoaraiosis.
* Modified Rankin score of 4 or 5 before the actual stroke.
* Serious medical disease such as AIDS, metastatic cancer, or abnormalities that the investigator feels may compromise the patient's successful participation in the trial.
* Earlier randomisation in this trial.

Answer: B