A Stand-Alone Structured Educational Programme After Myocardial Infarction: A Randomised Study

Background Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a major clinical manifestation of coronary artery disease. Post-MI morbidity and mortality can be reduced by lifestyle changes and aggressive risk factor modification. These changes can be applied more effectively if the patient is actively involved in the process. The hypothesis of this study was that an educational programme in post-MI patients could lead to reduced incidence of cardiovascular events.Methods Post-MI patients were prospectively randomised into two groups. Patients in the intervention arm were scheduled to attend an 8-week-long educational programme on top of usual treatment, while controls received optimal treatment. The primary endpoint was the composite of all-cause death, MI, cerebrovascular event and unscheduled hospitalisation for cardiovascular causes. Endpoint adjudication was blinded.Results 329 patients (238 men) were included, with a mean follow-up time of 17 +/- 4 months. In the primary analysis, mean primary end point-free survival time was 597 days (95% CI 571 to 624) in controls, compared with 663 days (95% CI 638 to 687) in the intervention group (p<0.001). The HR in the univariate Cox regression analysis was 0.48 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.73; p=0.001). The raw rates of the primary endpoint were 20.8% (6 deaths, 13 MIs, 2 strokes and 14 hospitalisations) vs 36.6% (8 deaths, 22 MIs, 7 strokes and 22 hospitalisations), respectively (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.74; p=0.002).Conclusion These results suggest that a relatively short adult education programme offered to post-MI patients has beneficial effects, resulting in reduced risk of cardiovascular events.