Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs demonstrated low risk, with 8.9 cardiac arrests, 3.4 myocardial infarctions, and 1.3 fatalities per million patient-hours of exercise.
Observational (n=51,303)
Yes
Does outpatient cardiac rehabilitation cause major cardiovascular complications in patients with cardiovascular disease?
Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs are associated with a very low risk of major cardiovascular complications, supporting the safety of prescribed supervised exercise for patients with cardiovascular disease.
To determine the incidence of major cardiovascular complications in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs, we obtained data from 167 randomly selected cardiac rehabilitation programs via mailed questionnaires and follow-up telephone calls. These 167 programs reported that 51 303 patients exercised 2 351 916 hours from January 1980 through December 1984. Twenty-one cardiac arrests (18 in which the patient was successfully resuscitated and three fatal) and eight nonfatal myocardial infarctions were reported. The incidence rates per million patient hours of exercise were 8.9 for cardiac arrests (one per 111 996 patient-hours), 3.4 for myocardial infarctions (one per 293 990 patient-hours), and 1.3 for fatalities (one per 783 972 patient-hours). There was no statistically significant difference in frequency of these events among programs of varying size or extent of electrocardiographic monitoring. These data indicate that current cardiac rehabilitation practice allows for prescribed supervised exercise by patients with cardiovascular disease to be performed at a low risk of major cardiovascular complications.
Steven P. Van Camp (1986) conducted an observational in Cardiovascular disease (n=51,303). Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs was evaluated on Incidence of major cardiovascular complications (cardiac arrests, myocardial infarctions, fatalities). Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs demonstrated low risk, with 8.9 cardiac arrests, 3.4 myocardial infarctions, and 1.3 fatalities per million patient-hours of exercise.