Background: Supportive therapies of exercise and diet-modifying secondary prevention programmes are associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. We sought to evaluate the frequency and correlates of referral to these supportive therapies, and their impact on concordance with prescribed secondary prevention medications at 1 year among ACS patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in three European countries.
Design/methods: Data on referral for exercise and diet supportive therapies were collected at discharge through to 1 year in the Antiplatelet Therapy Observational Registry (APTOR) prospective observational study conducted in France, Spain and the UK in 1335 patients.
Results: 40% of patients received referral for exercise or diet, while three out of five patients received neither, with large variation between countries. Predictors of recommendation for either diet or exercise when excluding country were enrolment in a non-teaching centre (odds ratio [OR] 1.62, 95% CI [confidence interval] 1.33-1.97, p < 0.0001) and use of only a bare metal stent during PCI (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.30-1.92, p = 0.0002), while weight and BMI had no bearing. Patients recommended either diet or exercise programmes had significantly more secondary prevention medication rates for each of the five predefined evidence-based BASIC (beta-blockers, aspirin, statins, ACE-inhibitors/ARBs and clopidogrel) medication therapies at 1 year.
Conclusion: Following an ACS treated with PCI, by 1 year the majority of European patients were not recommended supportive therapies of exercise and dietary secondary prevention programmes, which have previously been associated with reduced morbidity and mortality and are recommended in the guidelines. Those recommended such therapies had considerably improved concordance with evidence-based therapies such as aspirin, clopidogrel and statins prescribed at 1 year. These data show a need for greater adherence to the European guidelines to ensure ACS patients are recommended such therapies.