Gender differences in lifestyle management among coronary patients and the association with education and age: results from the ESC EORP EUROASPIRE V registry

Abstract

Background: Lifestyle management is essential in the secondary care of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Little evidence is available about gender differences in lifestyle counselling and lifestyle compliance. This study aimed to provide an overview on potential gender differences in lifestyle advice provided by a healthcare professional and patients' lifestyle compliance.

Methods and results: Analyses were based on the cross-sectional ESC EORP EUROASPIRE V survey including data on CHD patients across 27 European countries. Consecutive patients <80 years, hospitalized for a first or recurrent coronary event, were included in the study. Information on lifestyle management was collected from medical records, medical examination, and structured questionnaires during patient interviews (≥6 months to <2 years after hospitalization). Data were available for 8261 patients of whom 25.8% women. Overall, no gender differences were observed in lifestyle advice provided by a healthcare professional for smoking cessation advice, dietary advice, advice on losing weight, and physical activity advice (P > 0.05). However, a closer look at the particular actions to adopt a healthy diet revealed that women reported more frequently a reduction of their salt (68.6% vs. 73.7%; P = 0.002), fat (70.8% vs. 74.7%; P = 0.003), and calorie intake (56.8% vs. 60.5%; P = 0.004) compared to men. In contrast, women were less likely to increase their physical activity levels (55.5% vs. 48.0%; P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Despite little gender differences in lifestyle advice provided by a healthcare professional, lifestyle compliance for physical activity is worse in CHD women. Further actions are needed to increase physical activity levels in female CHD patients.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases; EUROASPIRE; Gender differences; Lifestyle; Secondary prevention.