Table 5.

Situations that may prevail in the final evaluation at the conclusion of the CR program^a

• The patient has attained his/her goals at an optimum level

• The patient has partially attained his/her goals, and it seems likely that he/she will be able to continue the training activities elsewhere, under supervision, and thus eventually attain these goals

• The patient has not attained his/her goals and it seems likely that he/she has attained their maximum achievable level. Not all patients will improve their endurance capacity and therefore need for example to spread their energy expenditure and to deal with their dyspnoea in a functional way

^aAfter the outpatient CR phase, all patients with CHF are referred to after-care activities (Phase III); in exceptional cases they may be referred to a specialised CR centre for clinical rehabilitation