. 2023 Jun 14;44(28):2515–2525. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad225

Table 1.

Evidence for cardiac rehabilitation: summary of Cochrane review cardiac rehabilitation findings

	Totality of evidence		Meta-analysis findings^a
	Number of RCTs Median follow-up	Number of patients	Mortality	CV events	Hospitalizations	Health-related quality of life
CHD (2021) (27)	85 trials 12 months	23 430—primarily post-MI/revascularization	All-cause RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.73–1.04 (25 trials/8823 participants/good certainty) CVD RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68–1.14 (15 trials/5360 participants/moderate certainty)	CABG RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.78–1.27 (20 trials/4473 participants/high certainty) PCI RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.63–1.19 (13 trials/3465 participants/moderate certainty) Fatal/non-fatal MI RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.55–0.93 (22 trials/7423 participants/moderate certainty)	All-cause RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.43–0.77 (14 trials/2030 participants/moderate certainty) CVD-specific RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.41–1.59 (6 trials/1087 participants/low certainty)	SF-12/36 PCS MD: 1.70, 95% CI −0.08 to 3.47 (6 trials/1741 participants/no GRADE assessment) SF-12/36 MCS MD: 2.14, 95% CI 1.07–3.22 (6 trials/1741 participants/no GRADE assessment)
HF (2019) (28)	44 trials, 6 months	5783—primarily HFrEF	All-cause RR 0.89, 95% CI 0.66–1.21 (27 trials/2596 participants/low certainty)	Not reported	All cause RR 0.70; 95% CI 0.60–0.83 (21 trials/2182 participants/moderate certainty) HF-specific RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42–0.84 (14 trials/1114 participants/low certainty)	MLWHF MD: −7.1, 95% CI −10.5 to −3.7 (17 trials/1995 participants/low certainty)

CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; CHD, coronary heart disease; CI, confidence interval; CV, cardiovascular; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HF, heart failure; HFrEF, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; MCS, mental component summary; MD, mean difference; MI, myocardial infarction; MLWHF, Minnesota Living With Heart Failure questionnaire; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; PCS, physical component summary; RR, relative risk; RCT, randomized controlled trial; SF-12/36, Short-Form 12/36; SMD, standardized mean difference.

All pooled outcomes at 6–12-month follow-up and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) quality assessment, unless otherwise stated.