Is hybrid cardiac rehabilitation superior to traditional cardiac rehabilitation?

Abstract

Background The current COVID-19 pandemic imposes changes in the management of cardiac pathologies. Cardiac rehabilitation needs to define new protocols to welcome patients back. In connection with the observations of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology, the choice of cardiac tele-rehabilitation appeared to be unavoidable. Aim This retrospective research based on data from the Program for the Medicalisation of Information Systems (PMSI) and the electronic medical record analyzes the effect of Hybrid Cardiac Rehabilitation. Methods One hundred and ninety-two patients (29 females and 163 males) with an average of 56.9 years old (±10.3) were able to benefit from a Hybrid Cardiac Rehabilitation program. The data concerning the Stress Test and the Wall Squat Test were collected. Results We have noticed that patients had improved their cardiorespiratory capacity on the initial and final Stress Test 6.6 (±1.8) MET to 8.2 (±1.9) MET (p < 0.0001). We also found that patients improved lower limb muscle strength 75.1 (±44.8) seconds to 105.7 (±49.7) seconds (p < 0.0001). Conclusions Hybrid Cardiac Rehabilitation protocols can be set up in this pandemic situation. The programme effectiveness appears to be comparable to the traditional model. However, additional studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of this programme in the long term.