Background: The risk factors underlying coronary heart disease (CHD) are well known.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate risk factors related to secondary prevention of working-age CHD patients.
Methods: CHD patients with (n = 139) and without (n = 203) myocardial infarction were selected from a postal questionnaire study (n = 21 101) of randomly selected Finns aged 20-54 years (HeSSup study). Four age- and sex-matched controls were chosen for every patient.
Results: CHD patients still smoke, are obese and suffer hangovers more frequently than the control population.
Conclusion: The health care system has not succeeded in the secondary prevention of CHD.