Comprehensive coordinated care after myocardial infarction (KOS‑Zawał): a patient's perspective.

568 Methods The Cardiology Department of Uni‐ versity Hospital in Opole started the arrange‐ ments to launch the KOS ‐Zawał program in Au‐ gust 2017. The hospital cardiology outpatient clinic had been supplemented with additional staff and rooms located next to the rehabilita‐ tion unit (a doctor’s office for outpatient visits, an electrocardiology laboratory equipped with electrocardiographic exercise test set with er‐ gospirometry and a 24‐hour Holter monitor‐ ing system, and clinical dietitian’s office). Out‐ patient rehabilitation was provided by the on‐ ‐site Department of Rehabilitation, while inpa‐ tient rehabilitation, by the Department of Car‐ diac Rehabilitation in Głuchołazy. The clinical dietitian was responsible not only for optimal individual diet composition, but also for pro‐ viding patients with information on secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The par‐ ticipants could also consult a clinical psycholo‐ gist, whose office was localized next to the KOS‐ ‐Zawał offices. Additional information is avail‐ able in Supplementary material. From October 1, 2017, to August 31, 2018, a to‐ tal of 521 patients with myocardial infarction treated in the Department of Cardiology entered the KOS ‐Zawał program. In order to study the pa‐ tients’ opinion on post ‐myocardial infarction care and the KOS ‐Zawał program, a questionnaire Introduction Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and account for 46% of deaths in Poland.1 Demographic chang‐ es in our country, population aging, and the ex‐ posure to cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, arterial hyperten‐ sion, diabetes mellitus, and stress) adversely af‐ fect the prognosis of patients after cardiovascu‐ lar events. The development of modern diagnostic and therapeutic methods, including intervention‐ al cardiology, resulted in a significant reduction of early adverse events, including deaths. Howev‐ er, despite the widespread use of reperfusion and revascularization in acute myocardial infarction, the 1‐year case fatality exceeds 15%. 2 Therefore, it was necessary to introduce a comprehensive coor‐ dinated care program after myocardial infarction (KOS ‐Zawał), which aimed to reduce the number of deaths and disabilities as well as facilitate fast‐ er recovery and return to professional activity. The KOS ‐Zawał program consists of revascu‐ larization, cardiac rehabilitation, implantable cardioverter ‐defibrillator implantation with or without resynchronization, if indicated, patient education, and comprehensive specialist outpa‐ tient care within 12 months after myocardial in‐ farction.3,4 The aim of this study was to present the KOS ‐Zawał program from the perspective of its patient participants. Correspondence to: Marek Gierlotka, MD, PhD, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital in Opole, al. Witosa 26, 45-401 Opole, Poland, phone: +48 77 452 06 60, email: marek.gierlotka@gmail.com Received: December 13, 2018. Revision accepted: February 26, 2019. Published online: February 26, 2019. Kardiol Pol. 2019; 77 (5): 568-570 doi:10.5603/KP.a2019. 0038 Copyright by Polskie Towarzystwo Kardiologiczne, Warszawa 2019 S H O R T C O M M U N I C A T I O N