Differences between the Characteristics of IHD Patients Undergoing Different Treatment Modalities Who Adhere to Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can be an effective means for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. Some studies have assessed the outcome of CR among ischemic heart disease (IHD) patients undergoing different strategies of treatment; however, they have not addressed differences between patients in these subgroups. In this study, we sought to compare differences regarding adherence to CR programs between IHD patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and noninvasive intervention. Methods and Subjects: Totally, 737 IHD patients who completed the CR program were recruited in this study. The study population comprised 408 patients who underwent CABG, 104 patients who received PCI, and 225 patients who had noninvasive intervention. Completion of the CR programs was defined as adherence to 24 sessions of CR programs. The age, sex, lipid levels, anthropometric data, and diabetes history of all the participants were recorded. Results: Among the predictors, age was significantly different between the CABG and PCI groups. Also, weight and waist circumference were statistically significantly different between the CABG and noninvasive intervention groups, LDL and cholesterol levels were different between the three aforementioned groups, and left ventricular ejection fraction was different between the CABG and PCI groups. (The latter difference was not significant between the CABG and noninvasive intervention groups.) Height, sex, presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, inactivity, job, history of obesity, and HDL levels were not significantly different between the three study groups. Of note, the physical activity of the adherents, as determined by METS, was also not significantly different between the three groups (p value = 0.54). Conclusion: Knowledge about the characteristics of adherent patients in the subgroups of IHD patients with different strategies of treatment seems to be important in selecting patients and designing a full CR program for them