Longitudinal effects of a nurse-managed comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention program for hospitalized coronary heart disease patients and primary care high-risk patients

Background: The EUROACTION study (nurse‑coordinated multidisciplinary, family‑based cardiovascular disease prevention program) documented the efficacy of a nurse‑managed, comprehensive prevention program in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). No information was available on survival. Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the effects of EUROACTION intervention on CVD risk factors and 12‑year survival in the Polish component of the study. Methods: Two district hospitals and 2 primary care practices were allocated randomly to intervention (INT) or usual care (UC). The primary endpoints were lifestyle and risk factors changes at 1‑year follow‑up. Differences in survival were analyzed using the multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results: The study involved 628 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and 711 high‑risk patients. Compared to UC, INT patients achieved healthier lifestyles and a larger reduction of risk factors at 1 year but these differences were not maintained 12 years after the intervention. Less deaths occurred in patients from the INT hospital and from INT primary practice (hazard ratio [HR], 0.58; 95% CI, 0.42–0.82 and HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.3–0.95, respectively). Adjustment for the covariates slightly attenuated the estimates and removed significance (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.52–1.04 and HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.36–1.24, respectively). For combined CHD and high‑risk patient groups, compared with UC, INT patients had a 36% lower risk of death after adjustment for age, sex, and history of CHD (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.48–0.86). Conclusions: The impact of the EUROACTION intervention on lifestyle and CVD risk factors could have contributed to lower mortality in INT coronary and high‑risk patients. These results emphasize the need for sustaining the interventions to help patients maintain a healthy lifestyle