Coronary artery disease
Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Lifestyle Behavior Modifications Among Survivors of Acute Myocardial Infarction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2008.08.022Get rights and content

The impact of secondary prevention initiatives on survival in higher-risk socioeconomically disadvantaged patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may depend on behavioral adaptive responsiveness, uptake, and adherence to healthier lifestyles. From December 1999 to February 2003, 1,801 patients in Ontario, Canada were interviewed regarding their lifestyle behaviors at 30 days after their index AMI hospitalization. Data were obtained using self-reported surveys, medical chart abstraction, and administrative data linkage. Multivariate analyses were adjusted for baseline sociodemographic, cardiac risk severity, and co-morbid conditions. Socioeconomically disadvantaged patients had greater cardiac risk severity at baseline than did their wealthier better-educated counterparts. Compared with lower-income patients, patients with higher incomes were less likely to smoke (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for highest vs lowest income tertiles 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21 to 0.63, p <0.001), more likely to participate in exercise (adjusted OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.85, p = 0.02), and more likely to decrease or discontinue alcohol use (adjusted OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.34, p = 0.06). The relation between education and lifestyle behaviors was less pronounced for education than for income. After adjustment for baseline factors, patients who acknowledged participation in regular physical exercise at 1 month had a significantly lower long-term mortality than those who did not. In conclusion, socioeconomically disadvantaged patients were sicker at baseline and less behaviorally responsive to embarking on healthy lifestyle changes after AMI than were those of higher socioeconomic status.

Section snippets

Methods

The study is a substudy of the Socio-Economic and Acute Myocardial Infarction Study (SESAMI) study, a prospective observational study of patients hospitalized for AMI throughout Ontario, Canada.7 Data came from (1) a baseline survey, (2) chart abstraction from the index AMI, (3) a 1-month follow-up telephone survey, and (4) linked health administrative data. The study received research ethics approval at each participating institution.

Of the 2,696 consecutive patients who were alive and

Results

The mean age of the cohort was 62.6 ± 12.8 years; 28.2% were women. Compared with their wealthier or higher-educated counterparts, lower-income and educated patients were older, more often non-Caucasian, had greater baseline cardiovascular risk (i.e., as measured using GRACE), and had more pre-existing co-morbid conditions (Table 1).

In our cohort, 30.3% acknowledged that they were smokers at baseline (i.e., ascertained at time of index AMI hospitalization). Of these smokers, 29.4% stated they

Discussion

Our study demonstrated that socioeconomically disadvantaged patients were less likely to modify or adapt to healthier lifestyle behaviors during the early convalescent periods after AMI than were those of higher SES despite having poorer prognosis and greater illness severity at baseline. In particular, poorer patients reported lower propensities to stop or decrease smoking and/or alcohol consumption and were less likely to partake in regular exercise during the weeks after AMI

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    The Socio-Economic and Acute Myocardial Infarction (SESAMI) study is supported by an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The SESAMI pilot study was supported by the 1988 Michael Smith Award of Excellence from the Medical Research Council of Canada. The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences is supported in part by a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Dr. Alter is a career investigator with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the chief scientific officer of Intervent Canada (PrevCan), a therapeutic lifestyle and disease-management program; Dr. Gordon is the chief medical and scientific officer of Nationwide Better Health, Savannah, Georgia.

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