Inpatient cardiac rehabilitation and changes in self-reported health related quality of life--a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
To assess changes in self-reported health related quality of life (HRQoL) among cardiac patients who participated in an inpatient rehabilitation programme.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the MacNew Heart Disease Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) was used to assess HRQoL at baseline (T1), after rehabilitation (T2) and 5 months after discharge (T3). The rehabilitation programme consisted of physical exercise, theoretical education, group discussions and individual consultations. Friedman's test with Wilcoxon post-hoc test was used to analyse changes between T1, T2 and T3. Effect size (ES) were calculated.


RESULTS
Eighty-nine participants were included (79% male) with mean age of 60.0 ± 8.6 years. All SF-36 and MacNew domains showed significant improvement from T1 to T2 (P < 0.05), and all except the SF-36 domain for emotional role with a moderate to large ES. At T3, change and ES are diminished in all domains, except for the physical and social domains of the MacNew.


CONCLUSION
These findings indicate an improvement in HRQoL over time among cardiac patients attending the rehabilitation programme, particularly so in the domains of physical role and physical function, vitality, bodily pain and emotional-, physical- and social-well-being, all which are important domains for maintaining an active life. Future randomised studies comparing inpatient- and outpatient-programmes with longer follow-up are necessary to ascertain if such improvements persist and if patients are able to change life-style in line with the stated goals of cardiac rehabilitation (CR).
['Weberg|M|M|', 'Hjermstad|M J|MJ|', 'Hilmarsen|C W|CW|', 'Oldervoll|L|L|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D003376:Counseling D005081:Exercise Therapy D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006331:Heart Diseases D006760:Hospitalization D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010353:Patient Education as Topic D010865:Pilot Projects D011788:Quality of Life D057566:Self Report D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Cardiac rehabilitation Health related quality of life Prospective pilot study Qualité de vie liée à l’état de santé Rééducation cardiaque Étude pilote prospective