Change in women's dietary fat intake following an acute cardiac event: Extent, predictors and comparison with non-cardiac Australian women and older adults.
BACKGROUND
Cardiac patients are encouraged to reduce their dietary fat intake, yet few studies have assessed fat intake in female cardiac patients.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed changes in fat intake for female cardiac patients at four occasions during the first year following their event, and compared it with fat intake for a non-cardiac sample.


METHODS
The Short Fat Questionnaire (SFQ) was administered to 239 women aged 36 to 84 years consecutively admitted to four hospitals at the time of an acute event. Mplus was used to analyse change over time in SFQ scores and to identify predictors of change. Mean SFQ scores were compared with those for a sample of randomly selected Australian women and older adults.


RESULTS
Mean SFQ scores decreased substantially during the first two months (t(139) = 8.374, p < 0.001), then increased over the subsequent 10 months (t(146) = 4.656, p < 0.001). By 12 months, SFQ scores remained significantly lower than at baseline. Older women and those with hypertension showed less reduction in fat intake. At all four time-points, mean SFQ scores were significantly lower than those reported for other Australian women and older adults.


CONCLUSIONS
Even prior to their event, female cardiac patients reported lower fat intake than other Australian women and older adults, but showed partial deterioration in adherence following convalescence. Future studies could investigate options for assisting patients to sustain dietary changes, with attention to older patients and those with hypertension.
Heart Research Centre, Box 2137 Post Office, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050 Australia. barbara.murphy@heartresearchcentre.org
Barbara Mary
BM
Murphy
Marian Una Christine
MU
Worcester
Peter Clifford
PC
Elliott
Michael Richard
MR
Le Grande
Rosemary Olive
RO
Higgins
Alan James
AJ
Goble
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000523:psychology*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014739:Victoria; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
D004041:Dietary Fats