Subjective assessment of the lifestyle of patients with acute coronary syndrome, including sociodemographic predictors

Introduction. Cardiovascular diseases belong to the group of civilization diseases, being the most common cause of death in Poland and in the world.The aim of the study. The aim of the study was to assess the lifestyle of patients with acute coronary syndrome, including sociodemographic predictors.Materials and Methods. The research was conducted from September 2018 to February 2019 among 80 patients hospitalized in the Cardiology Department and patients participating in the cardiac rehabilitation program at the Day Cardiac Rehabilitation Department at the Provincial Hospital in Podbeskidzie. The research tool was a self-made questionnaire consisting of 36 questions related to research issues and 9 questions regarding personal data. Statistical calculations were performed using the STATISTICA version 13.0 statistical package.Results. Every fourth person surveyed considered lifestyle as the most important health determinant. The vast majority of respondents considered regular physical activity (85%) and healthy eating (76.2%) as the basic pillar of a healthy lifestyle. Only half of the respondents indicated no use of stimulants as a determinant of healthy lifestyle. Over 60% of respondents to the question about caring for their own health before the onset of ACS gave an affirmative answer, however, every third respondent denied. For the vast majority of respondents, the occurrence of a coronary incident was a motive to raise health awareness. The fact of ACS adversely affected the most important spheres of life of the respondents.Conclusions. The lifestyle of the respondents significantly affected the occurrence of acute coronary syndrome. There is a need for a significant intensification of educational activities regarding the awareness of the importance of physical activity, especially in the elderly population in secondary prevention of myocardial infarction and its beneficial effect on improving the quality of life of people after the onset of ACS.