Rehabilitación cardiaca postinfarto mediante programa Euroaction

Abstract

IntroductionRehabilitation or secondary prevention programs of cardiovascular disease are effective if associated with drug treatment, life style changes and especially dietary interventions, smoking cessation and regular practice of physical activity. The Euroaction program has allowed lifestyle modifications and beneficial effect on the risk factors in patients who have suffered acute coronary syndrome. Material and methodsUsing an easy to implement program having 8 weekly sessions, we studied its effectiveness on 401 patients, most of whom had moderate risk (51.5%). ResultsAt 6 months, the program achieved the secondary prevention goals, with reduction in abdominal perimeter (P<.05), body mass index (P<.05), total cholesterol (P<.005), triglycerides and low density lipoprotein (P<.001) and elevation of high density lipoproteins (P<.001). There was a significant decrease of glycemia in patients with baseline levels >126mg/dl (P<.001) and systolic blood pressure in patients with >140mmHg (<.001) and diastolic >90mmHg (P<.001). The proportion of sedentary patients decreased from 50.9 to 7.5% of the patients at 6 months, 73% of them doing moderate regular exercise, with improvement in their aerobic capacity. Smoking cessation was only achieved in half of the patients. ConclusionsThe Euroaction program was effective for the control of risk factors after myocardial infarct. It obtained similar results to other more complex programs. The patients achieved increased aerobic capacity.