Early results from the EuroAction hospital project, announced today at the European Society of Cardiology, demonstrate how a nurse-led multidisciplinary programme, organised in busy general hospitals, can help coronary patients and their families to reduce their risk of major cardiovascular disease (CVD).
In six European Countries (France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK), the EuroAction project clearly shows that implementing the Joint European Societies' Guidelines on CVD prevention by nurse-led teams can, through a family-based, behavioural approach, lead to measurable improvements in lifestyle and related factors, thus reducing the risk of future cardiovascular events.
EuroAction patients and partners achieved improvements in lifestyle, other cardiovascular risk factors and in the use of cardio-protective medication. Patients stopped smoking, reduced their consumption of saturated (or 'bad') fats, increased daily intake of fruits and vegetables, and achieved greater levels of physical activity. Other CVD risk factors (e.g. weight and shape, blood pressure, and blood fat profile) all improved, and the vast majority were prescribed cardio-protective medicines. Patients' partners also adopted a healthier diet and increased their physical activity with corresponding reductions in weight and shape, blood pressure and blood fats.
"I'm delighted with these early findings from the hospital programme", commented Professor David Wood, Imperial College, London, UK, and EuroAction Principal Investigator. "It is well known that lifestyle factors play a major role in the likelihood of a person suffering a cardiovascular event. These results confirm the positive impact that nurse-led programmes can make to improve the quality of families' lives. EuroAction signals a new dawn in preventive cardiology, making it accessible to the vast majority of coronary patients and their families."
The EuroAction programme successfully reached out to a majority (73%) of all eligible coronary patients, and most (84%) completed the programme. All types of coronary patients were targeted, from those with an acute coronary syndrome (65%) through to stable angina (35%). A majority of the patients' partners/spouses (77%) also attended the programme.
With the assistance of EuroAction teams, over half (58%) of the patients involved in EuroAction who were smokers prior to their coronary event had stopped by the end of the hospital programme. One in five partners also stopped smoking cigarettes.