Perceived quality of care and lifestyle counseling among patients with heart disease.

Background: To examine patients' perceived quality of care and reported receipt of information on diet and exercise related to cardiovascular disease prevention.

Methods: Patients admitted with acute coronary syndromes or elective cardiac catheterization were eligible for enrollment. Baseline medical information was collected through medical-record review. Patients completed surveys at the time of hospitalization that included items on perceived quality of care and whether they had received information from a healthcare provider on diet and exercise as related to their heart. Perceived quality of care was grouped into 3 categories: (1) poor to fair, (2) good, and (3) very good to excellent.

Results: Among the 182 cardiac patients who completed the survey, those who reported poor to fair quality of care were more likely to report that they had received no advice regarding diet as compared with those who perceived their quality of care as good or very good to excellent (61%, 59%, and 26%, respectively, P < 0.0001). A similar pattern was observed for exercise (71%, 74%, and 36%, respectively, P < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Patients with low perceived quality of care were less likely to have discussed diet and exercise habits with healthcare providers. Improving receipt of lifestyle counseling is warranted given the central role that diet and exercise play in secondary prevention.