Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation increased the proportion of patients with an optimal diet from 50% at admission to 59% at discharge (P<0.0001), with scores remaining stable at one year.
Cohort (n=734)
Does outpatient cardiac rehabilitation improve dietary quality in cardiac patients?
Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation improves overall dietary quality, primarily through better oil choices and reduced meat intake, but fails to significantly increase fruit and vegetable consumption.
Absolute Event Rate: 59% vs 50%
p-value: p=<0.0001
Abstract Background/Objectives Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a cornerstone of secondary prevention, yet the effectiveness of its nutritional component in enhancing adherence to Mediterranean-style dietary patterns remains uncertain. We aimed to evaluate overall dietary quality and the impact of outpatient CR on adherence to key dietary recommendations in patients undergoing outpatient CR. Subjects/Methods Prospective observational cohort study including 734 consecutive cardiac patients with complete dietary data enrolled in SwissPR between September 2020 and May 2025. Diet quality was assessed using a four-point Healthy Nutrition (HN) Score with a HN-Score ≥3 indicating optimal nutrition. Changes in HN-Score and its individual components were assessed from CR admission to CR discharge and after one year. Results Patients were 63±11 years old and predominantly male (76%). CR resulted in an increase of patients with optimal diet from 50% at admission to 59% at discharge (p 0.0001). Mean HN-Score increased from 2.39 ± 1.00 to 2.63 ± 0.87 at discharge (p 0.0001), largely reflecting increased use of healthy oils and reduced meat consumption, while adherence to the "5-a-day" target for fruit and vegetable consumption remained low and unchanged (22% at admission, 25% at discharge; p = 0.135). At one year, HN-Score remained stable (2.65 ± 0.75; p = 0.494). Despite having suboptimal HN-Scores three out of four patients rated their diet as healthy. Conclusions CR-based dietary counseling improves overall nutrition scores, but has minimal impactt on the "5-a-day" fruit and vegetable target. These results underscore the need for effective strategies that promote pragmatic, evidence-based fruit and vegetable goals in CR settings.
Porta et al. (Mon,) conducted a cohort in Cardiac disease (n=734). Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation vs. Baseline (admission) was evaluated on Optimal diet (Healthy Nutrition Score ≥3) (p=<0.0001). Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation increased the proportion of patients with an optimal diet from 50% at admission to 59% at discharge (P<0.0001), with scores remaining stable at one year.