Use of cardiac telerehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many cardiac rehabilitation centres to focus more on the remote delivery of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) components. This increased focus and the lessons learned from this period could enhance the implementation of telerehabilitation and increase the participation in CR in Belgium. Methods We conducted a survey between April and May 2020 about the implementation of telerehabilitation services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The electronic questionnaire was sent via email to the heads of 42 Belgian CR centres. Three reminders via email were sent during the study period. Results 27 CR centres (64%) returned completed questionnaires after three mailings. 52% of the CR centres provided remote CR services during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All CR centres that provided remote CR services delivered exercise training. The most used medium to deliver the CR components were online videos (71%) followed by online information on the website (64%) and emails (64%). Conclusion It is interesting that the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged many CR centres to implement remote delivery of CR components. This can help to speed up the research and implementation of telerehabilitation in daily clinical practice. The COVID-19 pandemic could be the push for a large multicentre implementation study that could prove that telerehabilitation is feasible and effective in the Belgian setting.