Effectiveness and Utilization of Cardiac Rehabilitation Among People With CKD

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a proven therapy for reducing cardiovascular death and hospitalization. Whether CR participation is associated with improved outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unknown.

We obtained data on all adult patients in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with angiographically proven coronary artery disease from 1996 to 2016 referred to CR from The Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease and TotalCardiology Rehabilitation. An estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min/1.73 m² or kidney replacement therapy defined CKD. Predictors of CR use were estimated with multinomial logistic regression. The association between starting versus not starting and completion versus noncompletion of CR and clinical outcomes were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models.

Of 23,215 patients referred to CR, 12,084 were eligible for inclusion. Participants with CKD (N = 1322) were older, had more comorbidity, lower exercise capacity on graded treadmill testing, and took longer to be referred and to start CR than those without CKD. CKD predicted not starting CR: odds ratio 0.73 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64-0.83). Over a median 1 year follow-up, there were 146 deaths, 40 (0.3%) from CKD and 106 (1.0%) not from CKD. Similar to those without CKD, the risk of death was lower in CR completers (hazard ratio [HR] 0.24 [95% CI 0.06-0.91) and starters (HR 0.56 [95% CI 0.29- 1.10]) with CKD.

CR participation was associated with comparable benefits in people with moderate CKD as those without who survived to CR. Lower rates of CR attendance in this high-risk population suggest that strategies to increase CR utilization are needed.