Abstract
BackgroundDespite considerable efforts to encourage participation, even in some developed countries, proportion of patients participating in institution-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs remained sub-optimal. The present study was designed to investigate the acceptability of community health service center (CHSC)-based Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR), and examine its effectiveness in terms of changes in quality of life (QOL), psychological state and exercise capacity.MethodsA consecutive series of eligible patients was recruited from the health registration system of two CHSCs in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. Patients in intervention site were provided with CR (CR-group) while patients in non-intervention site were offered the usual care (UC-group). Data regarding health-related QOL (HRQoL), psychological state and exercise capacity (6-min walk test = 6MWT) were collected and compared at baseline and at 6 months post-intervention.ResultsAmong invited patients eligible for CR program, 65.3% participated, while 5.3% of the participants dropped out during follow-up. Patients in CR-group showed significant decrease in the scores for anxiety and depression as per the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), along with marked increases in the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12)-based Physical (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores. Moreover, the measurement of 6MWT showed a significant increase of 57.42 m walking distance among CR patients in contrast with a slight increase among UC patients.ConclusionsGiven the high participation and low withdrawal along with considerable improvements in HRQoL, psychological state and exercise capacity, CHSC was likely to be the optimal setting for implementing CR for patients with CHD in China.Trial registrationChiCTR-TRC-12002500. Registered 16 September 2012.
Highlights
Despite considerable efforts to encourage participation, even in some developed countries, proportion of patients participating in institution-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs remained sub-optimal
In the intervention community health service center (CHSC), a total of 95 patients eligible for CR were consecutively identified from the new admission register
Results from the current study showed a significant increase of 57.42 m in the distance walked by the patients participating in the CR program, suggesting that the CHSC-based CR program could improve the capacity of physical exercise among the coronary heart disease (CHD) patients
Summary
Despite considerable efforts to encourage participation, even in some developed countries, proportion of patients participating in institution-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs remained sub-optimal. Home-based CR as an alternative mode appeared to improve the participation in several programs, indicating that 96.1% of home participants received 5 contacts with a rehabilitation nurse whereas only 56.1% of centre-based participants attended this number of classes [12]. It did not reduce the healthcare costs substantially [13] and in terms of outcomes didn’t appear to be superior compared to the hospital-based programs [12]
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