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Heart Patients Urged to Get Into Rehab
Last Updated: 2005-01-24 16:00:41 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends
in a statement issued Monday that doctors strongly encourage their cardiac
patients to participate in rehabilitation programs aimed at preventing a
recurrence of heart problems.
In 1994, the AHA declared that cardiac rehabilitation should include not
only exercise training but also multifaceted programs aimed at reducing risk
factors for coronary heart disease.
In today's revised statement, the association reviews the recommended
components for an effective cardiac rehabilitation/prevention program, with
an emphasis on exercise training.
Studies have shown that exercise-based cardiac rehab lowers heart-related
mortality rates by 26 percent, and total mortality rates by 20 percent,
compared with usual medical care.
Heart patients who undertake exercise training also have fewer non-fatal
heart attacks, and require bypass surgery and angioplasty less often, than
patients who do not participate in exercise training.
Despite this, the AHA says, cardiac rehab programs "remain underused in the
United States, with an estimated participation rate of only 10 percent to 20
percent of the greater than 2 million eligible patients per year" -- that
is, people who've had a heart attack or have undergone procedures to clear
blocked coronary arteries.
The main reason for low participation rates -- particularly among women,
older individuals, and ethnic minorities -- is that doctors are not
referring patients to rehab programs, say Dr. Arthur S. Leon from the
University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and colleagues in the American Heart
Association's journal Circulation.
Also, inadequate third-party reimbursement for cardiac rehabilitation, and
limited access to these programs, play a role in certain areas of the
country.
The statement also discusses alternative models to the traditional hospital-
or community center-based settings for cardiac rehabilitation, such as home
and Internet-based approaches.
SOURCE: Circulation, January 25, 2005.
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