OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of the Heart Manual, a self help, home based cardiac rehabilitation programme, with hospital based cardiac rehabilitation programmes. Comparisons were made on key psychological, behavioural, biological, service and cost outcomes. METHOD A systematic review was conducted. Nine electronic databases and the internet were searched. Non published trials of the Hea...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the degree of incorporation of cardiac rehabilitation in the Spanish National Health Service, to describe the characteristics of the programs, and to report on the opinions of those responsible for them regarding their progress. PATIENTS AND METHOD Cardiac rehabilitation centers were identified from different sources. A questionnaire which included items about coverage,...

Cardiac rehabilitation can reduce mortality and morbidity for patients with many types of cardiac disease cost-effectively, yet is generally underutilized. Rehabilitation is helpful not only for patients who have had a myocardial infarction but also for those with stable angina or congestive heart failure or those who have undergone myocardial revascularization procedures, a heart transplant or...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether patients who subsequently drop out of a structured cardiac rehabilitation programme could be prospectively distinguished from those who remain in the programme based upon their initial baseline characteristics. DESIGN A cohort study. SETTING A referral rehabilitation department in a cardiovascular research and training institute. SUBJECTS One thousand one hu...

Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation/secondary prevention programs are characterized by comprehensive services, including medical evaluation, prescribed exercise, and cardiovascular disease risk factor modification through evidence-based pharmacological management of risk factors and behavioral interventions. This multifactorial process is designed to limit the adverse physiological and psychologi...

BACKGROUND: Currently, there are a lack of investigations that have examined the effect of participating in a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program on quality of life and physiological measures in women of different ages. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of participating in a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program on quality of life, exercise tolerance, b...

Cardiac rehabilitation programs are safe and effective in improving the functional activities of patients with cardiac disease, but they may be hazardous to those patients whose life might be in jeopardy if subjected to exercise. It is clear that not all cardiac patients require supervised rehabilitation programs to return to normal pre-cardiac-event activities. Many patients who have suffered ...

BACKGROUND In 2006, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Access to Care Working Group recommended a 30-day wait time benchmark for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). The objectives of the current study were to: (1) describe cardiac patient perceptions of actual and ideal CR wait times, (2) describe and compare cardiac specialist and CR program perceptions of wait times, as well as whether the re...