Clustering of Lifestyle Risk Factors in Acute Coronary Syndrome: Prevalence and Change after the First Event

Background: Healthy lifestyles are modifiable risk factors for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) onset and recurrence. While unhealthy lifestyles tend to cluster together within the general healthy population, little is known about the prevalence and clustering of these behaviours in people with ACS before and after the first acute event. The aim of this study was to identify lifestyle profiles of patients with ACS and to explore their change after their first coronary event. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-six patients completed self-report measures of healthy habits at the beginning of cardiac rehabilitation and 6 months later. By adopting a person-oriented approach, we analysed lifestyle cl…