Prevention of coronary heart disease is crucial to reduce disease progression. Cardiac rehabilitation is defined as a structured multidisciplinary intervention for cardiovascular assessment and management.

To describe adherence to guidelines regarding drug and lifestyle changes (diet, smoking and exercise), one year after cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease.

Fifty patients (86% male, mean age: 59 years) enrolled in a cardiac rehabilitation center for coronary heart disease were included. At one year, 5 patients were lost to follow-up. The rate of prescription of evidence-based therapies was high: antiplatelet therapy in 100%, beta-blockers in 93%, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II antagonists in 82% and statins in 93%. Patients changed their lifestyle regarding diet with significant lost of weight–5.6kg (P=0.03), increasing diet score +6.7 points (P=0.001). Among those who increased this score, 84% had received a specific dietetic education in the rehabilitation center. LDL cholesterol<0.70g/L was obtained in 60% of patients, smoking cessation in 75% of active smokers. Seventy percent of patients had a good knowledge about their cardiac disease, their treatment and their cardiovascular risk factors. According to the IPAQ score, at one year, patients increased their moderate physical activity by 326minutes per week (P=0.002), the maximum output in the exercise test and the 6minutes walk test were not significantly different between one year follow up and discharge rehabilitation.

Unlike in the EUROASPIRE studies, a large majority of coronary patients achieve, at one year, the guidelines for secondary prevention with high prevalences of smoking cessation, physical activity, prescription of recommended therapies, lost of weight. These results confirm the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation after coronary heart disease.