Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Individually Tailored Lifestyle Intervention in Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a theoretically-based individually tailored lifestyle intervention on healthy lifestyle changes and improvement in disease management in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Methods In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 120 patients with FH were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive education and counseling based upon the Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavioral Change (n = 60) or conventional clinical education (n = 60). All patients were evaluated for healthy lifestyle changes, adherence to therapy, lipid levels, blood pressure, body mass index, and waist measurement at baseline and at 12th and 24th weeks' visits. Results Motivational interviews resulted in a significant improvement in healthy lifestyle changes and treatment adherence in the intervention group. In addition, there were significant decreases in body mass index (-7.49%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (-37.14%), and blood pressure (13.3%) in the intervention group. Conclusions Our results showed that an individually tailored lifestyle intervention was effective in facilitating healthy lifestyle changes and improvement in treatment adherence and in decreasing cardiovascular risk factors including cholesterol levels in patients with FH.