Lifestyle modifications after acute coronary syndromes in a subset of the AMI-Florence 2 Registry

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence to recommendations for secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods and results Physical examination, a careful medical interview with assessment for lifestyle habits, adherence to pharmacological therapy and blood analyses were performed in 130 patients at the time of the acute event and after 6 months of follow-up. At follow-up examination, 7 patients persisted to smoke (5.4%), 41(31.5%) continued to have high blood pressure, 34(26.1%) had high levels of total cholesterol, 38(29.2%) high levels of triglycerides, 64 (49.2%) high levels of LDL-cholesterol and 46(35.4%) low levels of HDL-cholesterol. Despite all treatments no significant change occurred. A high percentage of patients (47%) reported a lower daily consumption of fruit and vegetables with respect to the recommended daily portions, nearly the whole population (92.3%) did not reach the recommended portions of legumes per week recommended, and a consistent percentage of patients (81.5%) did not consume fish twice a week, as recommended. Conclusion These findings demonstrate the difficulty of modifying the lifestyle habits in patients with ACS.