Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.
| Author/Year | Country | Population | Comparisons | Follow-up | Quality |
| 1.Arthur 2002 13 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 242). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Yes | Intervention: In addition to exercise, patients were telephoned every 2 weeks by the exercise specialist. Comparison: Hospital based exercise training | 6 months | High quality |
| 2.Bambauer 2005 14 | USA | ACS patients (N = 100). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Six 30 minute telephone counseling sessions. Comparison: Patients received a booklet on coping with chronic illness and were instructed to contact their primary care physician if they experienced any warning signs of more significant depression. | 6 months | Acceptable |
| 3.Bazargani 2011 15 | Iran | CABG patients (N = 300). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Yes | Intervention: 6 sessions (150 min/week) of psycho-education. Comparison: Not described | 3 months | Unacceptable |
| 4.Beckie 1989 16 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 74). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: 4 to 6 supportive-educative telephone calls with a cardiac rehabilitation nurse specialist. Comparison: Received routine in-hospital teaching available to all patients undergoing cardiac surgery. | 1.5 months | Acceptable |
| 5.Gallagher 2003 17 | Australia | Women with CAD (N = 196). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: 32% did | Intervention: 4 telephone calls to assist coping with recovery. Comparison: All inpatients received a Phase I education program, and all women were referred to local cardiac rehabilitation programs. | 3 months | Acceptable |
| 6.Hanssen 2007 18 | Norway | AMI patients (N = 288). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Nurse-initiated telephone calls after discharge. Comparison: All patients in the control group were managed in accordance with the current clinical practice, which encompassed one visit to a physician at the outpatient clinic 6–8 weeks after discharge, and subsequent visits to the patient's general practitioner. | 6 months | Acceptable |
| 7.Hanssen 2009 19 | Norway | AMI patients (N = 288). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: A very small proportion were referred | Intervention: Nurse-initiated telephone calls after discharge. Comparison: All patients in the control group were managed in accordance with the current clinical practice, which encompassed one visit to a physician at the outpatient clinic 6–8 weeks after discharge, and subsequent visits to the patient's general practitioner. | 18 months | Acceptable |
| 8.Hartford 2002 20 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 166) who have a caregiver. Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: 6 telephone calls to patients and partners. Comparison: The control group received usual care, which did not include systematic follow-up | 2 months | High quality |
| 9.Holmes-Rovner 2008 21 | USA | ACS patients (N = 525). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Six-session telephone counseling calls by a health educator. Comparison: Patients received a written discharge contract listing recommended outpatient medications, cardiac rehabilitation recommendations, and health behavior changes (smoking cessation, diet modification, and exercise), as well as numerical values for ejection fraction and cholesterol. | 8 months | Acceptable |
| 10.Ma 2010 22 | USA | CAD patients (N = 689). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Pharmacist-delivered telephone counseling calls. Comparison: consisted of normal clinical care as determined by the patient's provider. | 12 months | Acceptable |
| 11.Mclaughlin 2005 23 | USA | ACS patients (N = 100) with symptoms of depressive illness or anxiety. Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: 3–6 telephone counseling sessions of 30 minutes by clinicians. Comparison: Patients received a booklet on coping with cardiac illness typical of those given at hospital discharge and were instructed to contact their primary care physician if they experienced any warning signs of depression. | 6 months | Acceptable |
| 12.Mittag 2006 24 | Germany | CAD patients (N = 343). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: All received 3 weeks of inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation | Intervention: Monthly nurse-initiated telephone contacts. Comparison: The control group received six flyers on general health topics (relaxation, sports and physical exercise, sleep disorders, low back pain, nutrition) by mail every second month as an attention placebo. Patients in the intervention group were given the same written information | 12 months | Acceptable |
| 13.Neubeck 2009 25 | Australia | ACS patients (N = 208). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not accessing CR | Intervention: A clinic visit plus 3 months of phone support. Comparison: ongoing conventional health care. Managing cardiovascular health in consultation with their GP and cardiologist. | 48 months | Acceptable |
| 14.Neubeck 2011 26 | Australia | ACS patients (N = 208). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not accessing CR | Intervention: 1-hour consultation and telephone calls over 3 months. Comparison: ongoing conventional health care. Managing cardiovascular health in consultation with their GP and cardiologist. | 48 months | High quality |
| 15.Redfern 2008 27 | Australia | ACS patients (N = 208). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not accessing CR | Intervention: 1-hour consultation and approximately four 10-minute follow-up calls. Comparison: Participants continued to manage their cardiovascular health as directed by their family physician often in consultation with their cardiologist. | 3 months | High quality |
| 16.Redfern 2009 28 | Australia | ACS patients (N = 208). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not accessing CR | Intervention: Clinic visit plus telephone support and tailored preferential risk modification. Comparison: continuing conventional care but no centrally coordinated secondary prevention | 12 months | High quality |
| 17.Redfern 2010 29 | Australia | ACS patients (N = 208). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not accessing CR | Intervention: One-hour initial consultation and four 10 minute follow-up phone calls over three months. Comparison: participated in ongoing conventional care, aimed at managing their cardiovascular health as directed by their General Practitioner, ideally in consultation with their Cardiologist. | 12 months | High quality |
| 18.Reid 2007 30 | Canada | CAD patients (N = 100) who were also current smokers. Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Automatic telephone contact plus counseling by up to three 20-min telephone sessions. Comparison: All participants received advice to quit smoking; access to Nicotine Replacement Therapy during hospitalization (if necessary); brief bedside counseling with a nurse-specialist; a self-help guide; and the provision of information about the hospital's outpatient smoking cessation program and other community programs. | 12 months | High quality |
| 19.Smith 2004 31 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 222). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: All participated in CR (home vs. hospital-based) | Intervention: Exercise program and telephone follow-up every 2 weeks by an exercise specialist. Comparison: Patients assigned to the Hospital based exercise group were expected to attend supervised exercise sessions 3 times per week for 6 months. | 12 months | High quality |
| 20.Smith 2007 32 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 196). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: All participated in CR (home vs. hospital-based) | Intervention: Exercise program and telephone follow-up every 2 weeks by an exercise specialist. Comparison: Patients assigned to the Hospital based exercise group were expected to attend supervised exercise sessions 3 times per week for 6 months. | 72 months | High quality |
| 21.Smith 2011 33 | Canada | CABG patients (N = 196). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: All participated in CR (home vs. hospital-based) | Intervention: Exercise program and telephone follow-up every 2 weeks by an exercise specialist. Comparison: Patients assigned to the Hospital based exercise group were expected to attend supervised exercise sessions 3 times per week for 6 months. | 72 months | High quality |
| 22.Stevens 1985 34 | Canada | MI patients (N = 59). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Received telephone calls by 2 nurses and the investigator. Comparison: nurses educated MI patients prior to discharge and all got a booklet to take home. Upon discharge patients were returned to the care of the GP and received usual follow-up. | 1.5–2 months | High quality |
| 23.Tranmer 2004 35 | Canada | CAD patients (N = 200). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Follow-up via nurse-initiated telephone calls. Comparison: Usual care included preoperative and discharge preparation by the nurse, provision of an education booklet and home care follow-up, as necessary. | 1.25 months | High quality |
| 24.Vale 2003 36 | Australia | CAD patients (N = 792). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: 53% of patients in the intervention group and 57% of the patients in the control group attended a cardiac rehabilitation program. | Intervention: Patients received coaching sessions by telephone. Comparison: Patients received a hospital discharge summary, a one page chart of risk factor for CHD secondary prevention to them and their medical caregivers as well as contacted once after discharge at 24 weeks for follow-up assessment | 6 months | High quality |
| 25.Vale 2002 37 | Australia | CABG or PCI patients (N = 245). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: 53% of patients in the intervention group and 50% of the patients in the control group attended a cardiac rehabilitation program. | Intervention: Dietitian contacted patients 5 times by telephone regarding lipid levels. Comparison: All patients in the study (including patients in the coaching intervention group) were offered information about a cardiac rehabilitation program and were encouraged to attend. Patients in the usual care group were contacted at 24 weeks postrandomization to obtain a fasting serum lipid profile within the next 2 weeks. | 6 months | High quality |
| 26.Van Elderen 1994 38 | USA | AMI patients (N = 60). Participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program: Not described | Intervention: Nurse contacted the patient by telephone. Comparison: Patients received standard medical care only; consisting primarily of medical care. A standard physical rehabilitation program was mplemented in the nursing ward. | 12 months | Acceptable |
Note: Studies underlined and in bold were included in the meta-analysis. The other studies were described qualitatively. CABG = Coronary artery bypass graft. ACS = Acute coronary syndrome. AMI = Acute myocardial infarction. CAD = Coronary artery disease. PCI = Percutaneous coronary intervention.