Heart disease: New special out-patient ward improves health literacy

In order to prevent a recurrence after a life-threatening cardiac event, secondary prevention measures such as health-promoting behaviour immediately after interventional treatment are particularly important. In everyday clinical practice, it is usually not possible to provide patients with comprehensive advice on secondary prevention measures during their stay in hospital. This gap has now been closed by a dedicated cardiology out-patient care ward at the Division of Cardiology at University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna. The special out-patient ward offers patients and their caregivers personal counselling sessions and health information before and after discharge. Although modern interventional treatment options have led to a decrease in mortality from coronary heart disease, it is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. According to Statistics Austria, coronary heart disease, which causes narrowing of the coronary arteries due to vascular calcification, caused approx. 12,500 deaths in Austria in 2021. "Patients still have a high cardiovascular risk, particularly after an acute coronary syndrome, if the necessary preventive measures are not implemented in everyday life," says Walter Speidl from the Division of Cardiology at University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna.