Cardiac rehabilitation after heart attack: is it helpful?

This comprehensive rehabilitation trial evaluated the benefit, if any, of cardiac rehablitation on survival, cardiac or psychological wellness, and general well-being in heart attack survivors.

Myocardial Infarction(MI) or heart-attack occurs when flow of oxygen-rich blood is suddenly blocked from reaching the heart muscle. It is one of the leading causes of death in men and women globally. Cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) is a program supervised by medical professionals (doctor, nurse, psychologist, physologist, dietician etc) to improve the general well-being of MI survivors. Cadiac rehab, as currently provided, includes lifestyle education programs, excercise training and counselling. Previous rehab program were shown to reduce mortality by 20%. The objective of this trial was to re-evaluate and confirm the benefits of the current cardiac rehab program on several factors (physical, psychological, quality of life style etc) in MI survivors.

This trial included 1813 patients who had a recent MI. Half of these patients particpated in the cardiac rehab program; the other half were referred to as 'control'. The program included exercise training, psycological counselling, health advice and education on cardiac risk reduction. The schedule of the 'rehab' program was weekly or bi-weekly and averaged 20 h over 6-8 weeks.

There were no significant differences between patients referred to rehabilitation and controls in survival at 2 years, or after 7-9 years, incidence of cardiac events (such as a second MI), health-related quality of life measures, or psychological general well-being (both were evaluated via questionnaires).

The currently practiced cardiac rehab program did not show significant benefits on mortality, general well-being, incidence of cardiac events or other health-related parameters among heart attack survivors.

The study relates to rehab programs practiced in the UK some 10 years ago. The content of these programs has changed in British hospitals since then, and may differ in other countries.