.
The primary aim of this pilot study was to determine whether coronary heart disease (CHD) patients in a Northern European population would adopt and maintain such a Mediterranean diet, "with a secondary aim of comparing the effectiveness of different methodologies aimed at improving compliance." Two different approaches to dietary change were compared: standard nutritional counseling and behavioral counseling.
METHODS.
Participants and Procedure .
A total of 61 participants were recruited from the Cardiology Directorate, Royal Victoria Hospital, and Belfast. The participants were aged between 39–78 years, with the mean age of the study population, 57.1 years. 81% of the participants within the study were male. Patients selected for the study had a recent diagnosis (within past 4 weeks) of MI or unstable angina. Participants were selected over the course of a 12-month period, from December 2004 to December 2005. Some individuals could not be considered to participate in the study due to both health risks and ethical considerations. Individuals with severe heart failure awaiting urgent inpatient coronary revascularization, on warfarin therapy, on Omacor therapy and with cognitive impairment and were unable to give informed consent could not be included in the study. In addition, individuals whom had a history of excessive alcohol ingestion, had a life expectancy of less than 6 months for other reasons, or already taking multivitamin/fish oil supplements, could not be considered and were excluded from the study. The sixty-one participants which were selected were randomized (block randomization approach with computer generated random numbers was utilized) to one of three arms. The participants could be assigned to either conventional dietetic advice (CDA) for CHD, or advice to implement a Mediterranean diet using nutritional counseling (MDNC), or advice to implement a Mediterranean diet using behavioral counseling (MDBC).