The efficacy of an education-based secondary outpatient prevention programme after acute coronary syndrome hospitalisations and treatment in Poland. The Patient Club initiative

Abstract

A b s t r a c tBackground: Guidelines on cardiovascular prevention from the European Society of Cardiology advocate sustained educational measures to be undertaken by both doctors and nurses to ensure lifestyle changes for patients after acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A planned programme of a series of educational meetings for patients after ACS was initiated in form of the Patient Club. Aim:To assess the efficacy of the Patient Club initiative in terms of increased knowledge on cardiovascular risk factors as well as utilisation of healthy lifestyle in patents who attend the programme. Methods:Patients in nine cardiology centres in Poland, who were treated for ACS between October and December 2014, were included. A dedicated questionnaire on healthy lifestyle and knowledge on cardiovascular risk factors was filled in by patients at hospital discharge. In January 2015 the same questionnaire was filled in by the same group of patients before their local Patient Club meeting.Results: There were 1273 patients hospitalised for ACS who were invited to join the Patient Club initiative. Of them, 372 (29%) filled in the questionnaire both at discharge and at the Patient Club meeting. The percentage of patients who smoked cigarettes decreased from 14% to 5% (p < 0.001), and the number of those who had at least 30 min of physical activity daily increased from 50% to 58% (p = 0.015). Conclusions:Patients who attended Patient Club meetings usually four weeks after ACS showed significant benefit in terms of healthy lifestyle changes and more guideline-recommended management of cardiovascular risk factors.

Over time changes in the prevention of recurrent coronary artery disease in everyday practice

“…Our results suggest that the potential for a further reduction in cardiovascular risk in CAD patients has not decreased significantly and that revision of state funded cardiac prevention programs is rational. Indeed, several initiatives aimed at improving cardiovascular risk in patients with CAD have been published recently [10,11,18,19]. Among them is the idea of managed care for myocardial infarction survivors, which was introduced in 2017 [11].…”

Temporal changes in the secondary prevention of coronary artery disease in patients following myocardial revascularization

“…Traditional cardiac rehabilitation programs are less effective for patients with a lower level of education and tend to be less efficient in patients after non-emergency myocardial revascularization compared to subjects with acute coronary syndromes [24,25]. Indeed, several recent initiatives have aimed at improving cardiovascular risk through education-based secondary prevention programs [26][27][28].…”

Educational technologies for cardiopathy

“…In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the Patient Club initiative in terms of increasing knowledge about cardiovascular risk factors, it is clear that there were significant changes among the patients participating in the club. 7 The Kaua'i Care Transition Intervention (KCTI) patientcentered intervention program has been put in place to reduce hospital readmission rates among patients 60 years and older. Thus, the patients selected were trained and educated under the intervention program, which was successful in reducing hospital readmission rates.…”