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A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
04:24

A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Published on: April 19, 2019

Cardiac rehabilitation outcomes: impact of comorbidities and age

Jennifer Listerman1, Vera Bittner, Bonnie K Sanderson

  • 1University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention
|September 28, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) benefits all patients with coronary heart disease, irrespective of their medical comorbidity (CM) burden. Older patients with higher CM burden still gain significant improvements from CR, so it should not deter referrals.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Rehabilitation Medicine
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Medical comorbidities (CM) are a known barrier to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) utilization.
  • The impact of varying CM burden on CR outcomes in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if CHD patients with higher CM burden achieve similar benefits from CR compared to those with lower CM burden.
  • To analyze the influence of age on the relationship between CM burden and CR outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 794 CHD patients who completed CR between 1996 and 2008.
  • Assessment of CM burden using a validated comorbidity index (CMI).
  • Multivariable linear regression to compare changes in functional capacity (6-minute walk test), BMI, and SF-36 scores based on CMI and age groups.

Main Results:

  • All patient subgroups, across all ages and CM burdens, showed improvements after CR.
  • Younger patients (<56 years) with a CMI of 0 demonstrated greater improvements than those with higher CMI.
  • In older age groups (≥56 years), the degree of improvement from CR was similar regardless of CM burden.

Conclusions:

  • Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is beneficial for all patients with coronary heart disease, irrespective of their medical comorbidity (CM) burden.
  • High CM burden, particularly in older individuals, should not be a reason to withhold CR referrals.
  • CR programs should be accessible to all CHD patients to maximize health benefits.
Abstract

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