[The effect of a cardiac rehabilitation program on return to work]

Return to work (RW) of patients (pts) after AMI or CABG was compared between a center with (I) and one without (II) Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) (outpatient; accelerated over 2-3 months; with ECG-monitored dynamic exercises 3 x 1 h/week; multidisciplinary). Over a 6 (I) and 4 (II) year period, 554 (I) and 555 (II) pts were examined; only pts who were active prior to the event, i.e. 61% in I and 21% in II, were considered for this study. Of the active subgroup, 79% returned to work in I compared to only 62% in II. Major differences were found depending on profession, i.e. selfemployers (I) 89% -- (II) 75% professionals (I) 82% -- (II) 71% and blue collars (I) 67% -- (II) 52%. From correlations between time to return to work (TRW) and professional reclassification (PR) with the type of cardiovascular disease (CVD), occupation (O) and age (A) the following conclusions could be made: --TRW vs O: blue collars returned later; there was also a high % in this group who did not return: 36% (I) and 48% (II). --TRW vs A: in I the majority returned to work within 6 months, regardless of A. In II a higher % of younger pts (-50 y) returned within 6 months. In case of no return, the higher the age of the pts, the lower the % of RW. --TRW vs CVD: in I return to work was later after CABG than after AMI.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)