Another Piece of the Puzzle: Wait Times Call for Integrated Patient, Provider, and System Solutions for Cardiac Rehabilitation

Optimal Gender-Specific Strategies for the Secondary Prevention of Heart Disease in Women: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of evidence on gender-specific, individually tailored secondary prevention (cardiac rehabilitation [CR]) services for women with heart disease. Women participate less in CR programs, thus increasing their risk of further cardiac events. This review aims to (1) determine the effectiveness of gender-specific interventions specifically designed for women with heart disease, delivered in outpatient CR settings; and (2) classify key elements of effective CR strategies/models for women with heart disease.

METHODS

Using the PRISMA guidelines, this is a systematic review of CR models tailored to women to improve cardiovascular risk. Four databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) between January 1974 and July 2017 published in peer-reviewed English language journals.

RESULTS

Three RCTs comprising 725 women of gender-specific CR strategies were identified. Significant improvements were found in one-third (1 study) of the included multicomponent CR strategies for outcomes including general health, social functioning, vitality, mental health, depression, and quality of life.

CONCLUSION

Further large-scale RCTs are required to replicate positive findings and accurately assess the capacity for gender-specific multicomponent CR programs that incorporate participant-driven collaborative models to moderate psychological risk and improve functional capacity and quality of life for women with heart disease.

Cardiac rehabilitation referral and enrolment across an academic health sciences centre with eReferral and peer navigation: a randomised controlled pilot trial

OBJECTIVES

To describe (1) cardiac rehabilitation (CR) referral across cardiac units in a tertiary centre with eReferral; (2) characteristics associated with CR referral and enrolment and (3) the effects of peer navigation (PN) on referral and enrolment. This pilot was a 2 parallel-arm, randomised, single-blind trial with allocation concealment.

SETTING

3 cardiac units (ie, interventional, general cardiology, and cardiac surgery) in 1 of 2 hospitals of a tertiary centre.

PARTICIPANTS

CR-eligible adult cardiac inpatients were randomised to PN or usual care. 94 (54.7%) patients consented, of which 46 (48.9%) were randomised to PN. Outcomes were ascertained in 76 (80.9%) participants.

INTERVENTION

The PN (1) visited participant at the bedside, (2) mailed a card to participant's home reminding about CR and (3) called participant 2 weeks postdischarge to discuss CR barriers.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcome of enrolment was defined as participant attendance at a scheduled CR intake appointment (yes/no). The secondary outcome was referral. Blinded outcome assessment was conducted 12 weeks postdischarge, via CR chart extraction.

RESULTS

Those who received care on the cardiac surgery unit (77.9%) were more likely to be referred than those treated on the general cardiology (61.1%) or interventional unit (33.3%; p=0.04). Patients who had cardiac surgery, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia were significantly more likely, and those with congenital heart disease, cancer and a previous cardiac diagnosis were less likely to be referred. Participants referred to a site closer to home (76.2% of those referred) were more likely to enrol than those not (23.7%, p<0.05). PN had no effect on referral (77.6%, p=0.45) or enrolment (46.0%, p=0.24).

CONCLUSIONS

There is wide variability in CR referral, even within academic centres, and despite eReferral. Referral was quite high, and thus, PN did not improve CR utilisation. Results support triaging patients to the CR programme closest to their home.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT02204449; Results.