Background: The majority of participants attending Cardiac Rehab Programs have documented cardiovascular disease. However, the primary prevention population attending cardiac rehab may multiply due to increasing obesity rates and increase in cardiovascular risk. To date, there is no published documentation regarding risk factor outcomes for individuals with primary prevention who complete a comprehensive cardiac rehab program.
Purpose: To evaluate risk factor outcomes in a primary prevention population who completed a 6-month comprehensive cardiac rehab program.
Methods: Outcome data recorded between July, 2002 and March, 2008 for 103 primary prevention cardiac rehab participants (age 64 +/- 10) without diabetes was extracted from the CV Health Manager(TM) software program. All participants attended a 6-month comprehensive cardiac rehab program that included exercise, education and individualized counseling. Subjects were divided into gender and age groupings. T tests were performed on entry and exit data for body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and lipid profile plus the 10-year Framingham risk score.
Results:
Conclusion: Women and older individuals benefited most from attending a comprehensive cardiac rehab program. All individuals showed improvement in blood pressure.