Positive outcomes in cardiac rehabilitation: the little program that could

Cardiac rehabilitation programs (CRPs) are receiving increasing attention because they restore, maintain, or improve both physiologic and psychosocial client outcomes (Evenson, Rosamond & Luepker, 1998). However, less attention has been paid to the effect such programs may have on the health-related quality of life of participants. The objective of this study was to measure health-related quality of life outcomes before and after participation in a CRP. Participants were 64 clients entering one of five CRP groups at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital in southern Alberta. Participants completed the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) (Ware, 1997) both at the beginning and at the end of one 13-week CRP intervention. The SF-36 examines eight health concepts: physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role-emotional (RE), and mental health (MH). Analysis showed a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for six of the eight categories. Larger effect sizes were found for PF (d = .746), RP (d = .657), and VT (d = .593). Smaller effects were found for BP (d = .299), SF (d = .337), and RE (d = .271). The findings of this study highlight improved health-related quality of life outcomes for clients participating in comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation programs.