Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation: a cost assessment based on a randomized clinical trial

The costs of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation are established and compared to the corresponding costs of usual care. The effect on health-related quality of life is analyzed.

An unprecedented and very detailed cost assessment was carried out, as no guidelines existed for the situation at hand. Due to challenging circumstances, the cost assessment turned out to be ex-post and top-down.

Cost per treatment sequence is estimated to be approximately euro 976, whereas the incremental cost (compared with usual care) is approximately euro 682. The cost estimate is uncertain and may be as high as euro 1.877.

Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation is more costly than usual care, and the higher costs are not outweighed by a quality of life gain. Comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation is, therefore, not cost-effective.