Patient perspectives on barriers to participating in cardiac rehabilitation

C Mettananda,S Mettananda,I Ismail

doi:10.4038/jccp.v51i2.7902

Abstract

Despite proven benefits, attendance at cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is poor worldwide. We aimed to describe patient perspectives on barriers to attend CR in Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted at cardiothoracic outpatient clinics of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka from May to July 2019. Post-cardiac surgery patients who were referred to CR but not attending them were recruited. 80 patients (male-51.3%, mean age 59.5±11.7 years) who were not attending CR were studied. 60% had to travel more than 50 km to attend CR. Main reasons for non-attendance were transportation difficulties (36%), non-availability of nearby CR centres (36%), unaware of being referred to CR due to communication lapses (35%) and lack of awareness of the importance of CR (31%). Therefore, providing clear information on cardiac rehabilitation, incorporating patient education programmes in cardiac surgery protocols and establishing new cardiac rehabilitation centres are recommended.

Highlights

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a medically supervised, structured programme designed to improve cardiovascular health following coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiac surgeries
In this study we aim to describe the patient perspectives on barriers to participate in CR programmes of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka
Of the CR non-attendees, 60% had studied beyond Grade 10, 53% had a monthly income equal or above Rs. 30,000, 52% were employed and 50% had a chronic or acute medical problem necessitating them to be on medications. 92.7% had to travel more than 25 km to attend CR programmes

Summary

Introduction

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a medically supervised, structured programme designed to improve cardiovascular health following coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiac surgeries. This includes health education on cardiovascular risk reduction, physical activity and stress management.[1,2,3] CR has proven beneficial effects on reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, and improvement in risk factor control and quality of life.[4,5] It is reported to be beneficial in reducing reinfarction rate and all-cause mortality following myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass graft and chronic heart failure.[6,7,8,9].

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Conclusion