Development and importance of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in German-speaking countries

Abstract

Cardiac rehabilitation is a coordinated treatment approach. The interdisciplinary team aims to provide the best possible physical and psychological outcomes for patients with cardiac diseases. Patients should be enable to independently resume work and and social life. Furthermore cardiac rehabilitation wants to limit or reverse the progress of cardiac disease through sustained health-related life habits. Cardiac rehabilitation significantly contributes to long-term success based on comprehensive care of cardiac patients. Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation has shown to be effective after myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting and chronic heart failure. However randomized controlled trials were performed only in Anglo-American countries. In these trials effects were observed mainly for exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programs. Because the results have been derived from different program settings they cannot simply be translated to German-speaking countries. However, several cohort studies predominantly performed in Germany also revealed effects of inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs for German-speaking countries. The most recent results demonstrated a significant reduction of recurrent events in patients after inpatient cardiac rehabilitation. Following the current evidence concerning the effect of inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs particularly after myocardial infarction international guidelines provide Class I (USA) and IIa (Europe) recommendation for this treatment intervention.In contrast to Anglo-American countries cardiac rehabilitation in Austria, Germany and Switzerland was established at its beginning exclusively for inpatient programs. In addition more and more outpatient programs were introduced in the last decades. Nevertheless inpatient cardiac rehabilitation is still the most common program in German-speaking countries.Future challenges of cardiac rehabilitation should not address the competition between inpatient and outpatient programs but provide answers to the question "which patient needs which program?" Future cardiac rehabilitation will offer patient-tailored programs. In German-speaking countries inpatient cardiac rehabilitation has long been well established whereas treatment potential of outpatient programs have increased. Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation is more flexible, close to home and it can be done part-time. Furhtermore, outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs can take on important tasks in long-term cardiac care and thus provide relief to inpatient programs. The initiation of such programs is a challenge and can add to better future development of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation.