Purpose To determine in patients with established coronary heart disease (CHD) whether the guidelines recommendations on secondary prevention of CHD are being followed.

Methods 64 hospitals across 31 provinces of China, including 32 secondary hospitals and 32 tertiary hospitals were selected for a baseline survey. Fifty outpatients with established acute coronary syndrome (ACS) recruited consecutively in each hospital. Information of these patients was collected and the situation of statins among the patients was analysed.

Results A total of 2516 high risk CHD outpatients were involved in present report. Mean age of the patients was 65±10 and 69.4% was male. Fifty-seven point nine percentages of patients were treated with statins at the moment of interview and 29.8% had achieved the recommended LDL-cholesterol target. The situation was significant difference among regions and provinces. The South China had the most patients with statins treatment, but the Northeast of China least. Treatment success rate was highest in Central China. At this interview, 68.2% outpatients were prescribed statins and 24.1% prescribed doses of statins were sub-minimal.

Conclusion There was a gap between Chinese patients with CHD prevention recommended in guidelines and that in the “real world.”