Table 4.
Benefits of cardiac rehabilitation based on studies from low- and middle-income countries
| Author (country) | Study Design | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Ciftçi et al., 2005 (Turkey) | Pre and post 12-week CR | Significant increase in exercise capacity, oxygen consumption, anaerobic threshold, cardiac output and HDL (p < 0.05). Significant decrease in BMI, total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides (p < 0.001). |
| Chakraborty et al., 2007 (India) | Exploratory study; pre-post assessment of 4-month comprehensive home-based | Significant improvements in work capacity, 6-minute walk distance, and all assessed domains of quality of life in both rural and urban patients (p < 0.001) compared to baseline values, but no statistical difference between the groups |
| Jiang et al., 2007 (China) | Randomized controlled trial; nurse-led 6 month CR versus usual care | Intervention group had a significantly better performance in walking (with a net improvement of 8.61 scores, Jenkins Activity walking score, for CR participants vs. 6.29 scores for the control group, p < 0.01), diet adherence (p < 0.05), medication adherence (p < 0.01); significantly greater reductions in lipids including triglyceride (p < 0.01), total cholesterol (p < 0.01), LDL (p < 0.01); and significantly better control of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.05) at three months. |
| Sarrafzadegan et al., 2008 (Iran) | Retrospective, observational study; before and after 24-session CR, some patients received lipid-lowering drugs | Significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (−2.9mmHg), TG (−25.5 mg/dl), cholesterol (−18.5 mg/dl), LDL (−16.7 mg/dl), weight (−1.6kg), BMI (−0.6 kg/m2), waist circumference (−3.05cm), and FBS (3.5 mg/dl) (p < 0.05). Significant increase in HDL (1.02mg/dl) and functional capacity (2.25Mets) (p < 0.001) |
| Avram et al., 2010 (Romania) | Prospective (16 months follow-up) | Significant decrease (p < 0.05) in TG and cholesterol |
| Babu et al., 2011 (India) | Randomized controlled trial of pts who attended in-patient CR followed by 8- week home- based CR compared to usual care (with the treating physician advice on staying active) | Significant increase in 6-minute walk distance in the experimental group vs. the control group (514 m vs. 429 m; p < 0.001) following the eight week home-based program. Significantly higher scores (p < 0.05) in the experimental group for mental and physical components of quality of life at the end of the 8-weeks of home-based CR, compared to controls |
| Intarakamhang & Intarakamhang, 2013 (Thailand) | Quasi-experimental design; pre-test and post-test single group | Significant increase (p < 0.05) in self-efficacy, self-regulation, quality of life, and self-care scores. Significant decrease (p < 0.05) in BMI |
| Poortaghi et al., 2013 (Iran) | Quasi-experimental before-after study | Significant improvement in quality of life domain scores of physical function, physical limitation, body pain, vitality, and general health (p < 0.05) |
CR, cardiac rehabilitation; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; BMI, body mass index; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; TG, triglycerides; FBS, fasting blood sugar