The effect of cardiac rehabilitation on changing patients’ clinical outcomes

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of cardiac rehabilitation on changing patients’ exercise intensity and physiological outcomes. Methods: The study used a pre- and post-inter vention test design to evaluate an 8-week cardiac rehabilitation programme. The focus of this programme was supervised exercise and the content includeddiet, physical activity, stress management and risk factor management. Patients attended three 2-hour sessions every week and these were supervised by a nurse specialist. Results: After 8 weeks of cardiac rehabilitation, the patients’ exercise intensity, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were all improved. However, except for the high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, the improvements were not sustained at 3 months. Among behaviour changes, only the improved behaviour in smoking and exercise were maintained at 3 months. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that cardiac rehabilitation is effective in improving cardiac patient outcomes in the short term but that other approaches, such as motivational interviewing and counselling, and strategies such as unsupervised exercise programmes in community settings, may be needed to maintain the physiological improvements.