Comparison of fat intake in Australian and New Zealand CHD patients: The LIPID (long term intervention with Pravastatin in ischaemic disease) study

Background: Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are advised to reduce their intake of foods rich in saturated fatty acids (SFA) and substitute foods rich in complex carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Methods: In the LIPID Study, 9014 patients were randomised to Pravastatin 40mg/day or placebo and followed up for a mean of 6 years. Dietary advice was given to all patients to reduce fat intake to less than 30% of energy intake, with equal amounts of SFA, PUFA and MUFA. Mortality and CHD event rates were higher in New Zealand patients. Baseline characteristics of patients were similar in both countries. However in New Zealand, median low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher (3.95 vs 3.81 mmol/L, P = 0.0002) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lower (0.88 vs 0.94 mmol/L, P < 0.001). A validated questionnaire was used to assess adherence to the diet in three different years (1991, 1992, 1995) in 1077, 951 and 849 patients respectively.