2.Remote cardiac rehabilitation is a good alternative of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in the COVID-19 era.
Atsuko NAKAYAMA ; Naoko TAKAYAMA ; Momoko KOBAYASHI ; Kanako HYODO ; Naomi MAESHIMA ; Fujiwara TAKAYUKI ; Hiroyuki MORITA ; Issei KOMURO
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 2020;25(1):48-48
BACKGROUND:
In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, people need to practice social distancing in order to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In such stressful situations, remote cardiac rehabilitation (CR) might be a viable alternative to the outpatient CR program.
METHODS:
We prospectively investigated patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) with a left ventricular ejection fraction of < 50%. As for patients who participated in the remote CR program, telephone support was provided by cardiologists and nurses who specialized in HF every 2 weeks after discharge. The emergency readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was compared among the outpatient CR, remote CR, and non-CR groups, and the EQ-5D score was compared between the outpatient CR and remote CR groups.
RESULTS:
The participation rate of HF patients in our remote CR program elevated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As observed in the outpatient CR group (n = 69), the emergency readmission rate within 30 days of discharge was lower in the remote CR group (n = 30) than in the non-CR group (n = 137) (P = 0.02). The EQ-5D score was higher in the remote CR group than in the outpatient CR group (P = 0.03) 30 days after discharge.
CONCLUSIONS
Remote CR is as effective as outpatient CR for improving the short-term prognosis of patients hospitalized for heart failure post-discharge. This suggests that the remote CR program can be provided as a good alternative to the outpatient CR program.
Aged
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Betacoronavirus
;
Cardiac Rehabilitation
;
methods
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Coronavirus Infections
;
epidemiology
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Heart Failure
;
rehabilitation
;
Humans
;
Japan
;
Middle Aged
;
Monitoring, Ambulatory
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Pandemics
;
Pneumonia, Viral
;
epidemiology
;
Prospective Studies
;
Self Care
;
Telemedicine
;
methods
;
Telephone