Referral of individuals with cardiovascular disease to secondary prevention programmes

Background: secondary prevention programmes help manage risk factors, prevent progression of disease, minimise complications and reduce readmissions to hospitals. Referrals to these programmes are suboptimal even though they improve survival and quality of life. Aim: to explore referral of individuals with a primary diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral vascular disease to secondary prevention programmes. Methods: a non-experimental descriptive retrospective design was used to analyse 176 patient records from a tertiary referral hospital in Melbourne, Australia. The study population consisted of individuals over 18 years of age admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, cerebrovascular disease or peripheral vascular disease within a 12-month period in 2009. Findings: from the patient records reviewed, 34% (n=60) were referred to secondary prevention programmes compared with 66% (n=116) not referred. Individuals with acute coronary syndrome were more likely to be referred than those with peripheral vascular disease or cerebrovascular disease. Those most likely to be referred were young males, married, living in a rural area and English speaking. Discussion: the study highlights that referrals to secondary prevention programmes are suboptimal. There is a need to investigate reasons for under-referral and the best approach to manage referrals. Conclusion: referrals to secondary prevention programmes are an important area of research: these are beneficial, yet some individuals are not being referred. Nurses are well placed to promote referrals to these programmes potentially. reducing under-referral.