Abstract 13726: Remote Cardiac Rehabilitation is a Good Alternative of Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation in the Covid-19 Era

Abstract

Introduction: As the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread throughout the world, people need to take social distance to protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In such a stressful situation, physical activity is obliged to be reduced, and the risk of cardiovascular events was elevated in patients with heart failure (HF). The remote cardiac rehabilitation (CR) might be an alternative of outpatient-CR program. Methods: We prospectively investigated patients hospitalized for HF with left ventricular ejection fraction < 50% from January 2019 to April 2020. For patients who participated in the remote-CR program, telephone support by a nurse specialized in HF and cardiologists was provided every two weeks for five months after discharge. Emergency readmission rate within 30 days after discharge was compared among outpatient-CR, remote-CR and non-CR groups, and EQ-5D score as an indicator for quality of life (QOL) was compared between outpatient-CR and remote-CR groups. Results: The participation rate of our remote-CR program for HF patients, which had been launched in 2019, was elevated during COVID-19 pandemic. As was observed in the outpatient-CR group (n=70), emergency readmission rate within 30 days after discharge was lower in remote-CR group (n=31) as compared with non-CR group (n=137) (p=0.02). EQ-5D score 30 days after discharge was higher in remote-CR group than outpatient-CR group (p=0.03). Conclusions: Remote-CR is as effective as outpatient-CR for the improvement in short-term prognosis after discharge in patients hospitalized for heart failure, suggesting that remote-CR program can be provided as a good alternative of outpatient-CR program.