Administration and effects of secondary prevention measures in coronary heart disease patients from Serbia according to gender and cardiometabolic risk.
BACKGROUND
The EUROASPIRE surveys showed high rates of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease, identified after coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary intervention or myocardial infarction, with time trends in preventive cardiology over more than a decade.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to test the implementation of European recommendations for cardiac rehabilitation and secondary risk prevention programmes in the population of coronary heart disease patients from Serbia.


METHODS
A total of 665 consecutive coronary heart disease patients (432 men, 233 women, aged 59.43 +/- 11.62 years), admitted for specialized cardiovascular rehabilitation, interviewed and examined in relation to the presence of coronary risk factors and administration of secondary prevention measures, were enrolled in the study.


RESULTS
High rates of smoking (27.67%), central obesity (58.05%), physical inactivity (61.50%) and adverse dietary habits (61.50%) were observed, as well as low frequency of patients who have reached recommended targets for waist circumference (41.95%), total cholesterol (40%), LDL-cholesterol (39.25%), HDL-cholesterol (59.69%) and triglycerides (59.25%), while systolic (82.26%) and diastolic blood pressures (95.49%) were well regulated. A significantly lower rate of achieved therapeutic targets, despite widely used cardioprotective drugs, was observed in diabetic patients and patients with the metabolic syndrome.


CONCLUSIONS
The results have shown a low proportion of coronary heart disease patients, especially with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, who reached the recommended therapeutic targets for cardiometabolic risk profile parameters, in spite of widely used cardioprotective drugs, and therefore clearly demonstrated the compelling need for more effective lifestyle management in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.
Tasic
Ivan
I
Institute for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases Niska Banja Nis, Serbia.
Lazarevic
Gordana
G
Kostic
Svetlana
S
Djordjevic
Dragan
D
Simonovic
Dejan
D
Rihter
Marija
M
Vulic
Dusan
D
Stefanovic
Vladisav
V
D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D055771:Serbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric