Cardiac rehab cuts hospital admissions and heart attack risk
A new Cochrane review of 107 clinical trials indicates that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly reduces hospital admissions and heart attack risks. The study highlights that home-based and digital programs are as effective as traditional center-based care for patients with coronary heart disease.
Why it matters
This research provides a scalable, evidence-based framework for improving long-term heart health outcomes globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation reduces hospital admissions by a third and heart attack risk by more than a quarter, as well as remaining beneficial in the long term, a new Cochrane review finds.
The evidence also suggests that newer home-based and digitally-supported cardiac rehabilitation programmes can be just as effective as traditional centre-based services.
Coronary heart disease is the single most common cause of death globally.
It can lead to chest pain, heart attacks or stroke.
Cardiac rehabilitation programmes are widely recommended following a cardiac event, with exercise recognized as a core component.
The researchers, led by the University of Glasgow in Britain, analysed 107 randomised controlled trials involving 26,886 people with coronary heart disease.
Most participants had experienced a heart attack, undergone heart procedures or experienced some sort of chest pain.
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