title: Improving cardiovascular prevention through patient awareness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) or coronary artery disease (CAD) must have their risk factors rigorously controlled, but there is a gap between practice and ideal. This study aimed to demonstrate how cardiovascular prevention is performed for these patients in a Brazilian university hospital, and to identify predictors of good practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  192 patients with CAD or PAD were included in this transversal study. Six prevention goals were analyzed: 1) systolic blood pressure < 140 mmHg; 2) diastolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg; 3) LDL < 100 mg/dL; 4) HDL > 40 mg/dL for men/ > 50 mg/dL for women; 5) not smoking; 6) regular practice of aerobic exercise.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients was 65.7 years, and 60% were men. The percentage of patients that achieved goals 1 to 6 was 57.3%, 67.2%, 40.1%, 27.6%, 88.5%, and 25%, respectively. The average number of goals achieved by patients was 3.06 ± 1.31. When asked about the reason for being treated, 182(94.8%) patients claimed to know about their disease, but when the diagnosis reported by the patients with the physician's diagnosis were compared, it was discordant in 12% of cases. The average number of goals achieved by patients was 2.67 and 3.46 for the PAD and the CAD group, respectively. The independent predictors of a higher number of goals/patient were: male gender (p = 0.011), hospitalization (p < 0.0001), CAD diagnosis (p = 0.011), knowing the reason for treatment (p = 0.028), and receiving prescription of β -blocker (p = 0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even in an university hospital, prevention is far from ideal. Efforts to increase patients' awareness should be stimulated, and can possibly improve the effectiveness of preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Medicine in Cardiology Unit, Instituto do Coração, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. 　vero_yulin@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Veronica Y P
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Karen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Handa
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yacoub
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pastana
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caramelli
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Calderaro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention / Q000592:standards*; D012907:Smoking