Partners aid in successful lifestyle interventions after ACS, revascularization
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Patients who aimed to lose weight with a partner after ACS or revascularization were more successful compared with those without a partner, researchers found.
Other lifestyle modifications included in this analysis presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress were smoking cessation and physical activity.
“Mental support is crucial in change, but also a structural change of habits is needed,” Lotte Verweij, MSc, registered nurse and PhD student at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, told Healio. “These habits are often part of daily household routines such as the choice of groceries and a way of preparing meals. Partners might contribute to these changes.”
In this abstract, researchers analyzed data from 824 participants from the RESPONSE-2 trial after ACS or revascularization. Participants were assigned a referral coordinated by a nurse for a comprehensive set of interventions (n = 411) or usual care (n = 413). The set of interventions included weight reduction, physical activity and/or smoking cessation.
This analysis focused on the impact of having a partner when attempting to improve one or more lifestyle-related risk factors without negatively impacting the other risk factors during 12 months of follow-up.
“We focused on partners participating in the lifestyle programs, while we hypothesized that besides mental support, they were able to contribute to change the patient’s habitual system,” Verweij said in an interview. “The definition of partners was not limited to spouses but focused on those who had any kind of living arrangement.”
The intervention and control groups had similar percentages of the presence of a partner participation (74% vs. 69%, respectively). Of the participants in the intervention group, 48% of their partners also participated in the lifestyle interventions.
Overall, compared with participants without a partner, those with a partner had improvements in lifestyle-related risk factors (OR = 2.57; 95% CI, 1.57-4.21). This association was also present when comparing participants in the intervention group with those in the control group (OR = 2.45; 95% CI, 1.25-4.79).
Participants with partners who also participated in the intervention were most successful in weight loss vs. those without a partner (OR = 2.71; 95% CI, 1.16-6.36).
“Our findings inform nurses and clinicians in the field of secondary prevention, and the findings could be integrated in the leading guidelines,” Verweij told Healio. “Furthermore, it is important for policy makers to consider the uptake of reimbursement of the referral of patients and partners to lifestyle programs to achieve sustainable lifestyle modification.”
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Verweij L, et al. Risk Factors and Prevention ePosters. Presented at: European Society of Cardiology Congress; Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2020 (virtual meeting).
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