A cardiac rehabilitation compliance assessment tool

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Compliance Assessment (CRCA) tool was developed by the author to facilitate compliance among cardiac rehabilitation patients with their exercise and medical regimen. The 18-item tool is based on a review of the cardiac rehabilitation literature and the results of a telephone survey of cardiac rehabilitation patients who dropped out of an outpatient program (in other words, they had attended fewer than 18 of 36 sessions). The items are organized into six categories. Each item is assigned a value of 0 to 6 by the nurse. Items are totaled to determine if the patient is at high, moderate, or low risk for dropping out of the program and for noncompliance. Individualized motivational care plans can be formulated based on the CRCA assessment data.