Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the relationship between low social support (SS) and adherence to diet in a cardiovascular disease (CVD) lifestyle intervention trial. DESIGN: Prospective substudy. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Blood relatives/cohabitants of hospitalized cardiac patients in a randomized controlled trial (n=458; 66% female, 35% nonwhite, mean age 50 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Non-adherence to diet using MEDFICTS (Meats, Eggs, Dairy, Fried foods, fat In baked goods, Convenience foods, fats added at the Table, and Snacks) tool; SS using the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease Patients Social Support Instrument. ANALYSIS: Logistic regression models adjusted for confounders. RESULTS: Significant predictors (P<.05) of non-adherence to diet recommendations at 1 year included low SS, increased body mass index and waist size, lower physical activity, depression, pre-action stages of change, control group assignment, and being male. Those with low SS at baseline 2.7 greater odds of being non-adherent to diet at 1 year vs those with higher SS (95% confidence interval=1.1-6.4); there was no interaction by group assignment. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Low SS at baseline was independently associated with non-adherence to diet at 1 year, suggesting that family members with low SS may be at heightened CVD risk as a result of poor dietary adherence.