Table. Descriptive Characteristics of Patient Populations of the Included Studies.
| Characteristic | No. (%) of studies (N = 456) |
|---|---|
| Heart failure | 173 (37.9) |
| Stroke | 126 (27.6) |
| Post–myocardial infarction | 64 (14.0) |
| Stable coronary artery disease | 46 (10.1) |
| CVD | 40 (8.8) |
| CVD plus comorbid diabetes | 5 (1.1) |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 2 (0.4) |
| Intervention types (HCPPR framework) | |
| Patient support | 311 (68.2) |
| ICT for health | 78 (17.1) |
| Community support | 18 (3.9) |
| Supervision | 15 (3.3) |
| High-intensity training | 14 (3.1) |
| Group problem-solving | 7 (1.5) |
| Printed information | 5 (1.1) |
| Strengthening infrastructure | 4 (0.9) |
| Financial incentives | 3 (0.7) |
| Other management techniques | 1 (0.2) |
| Comparator | |
| Usual care | 396 (86.8) |
| Active comparator | 33 (7.2) |
| Not reported | 27 (5.9) |
| Study design | |
| RCTs | 413 (90.6) |
| Quasi-randomized studies | 21 (4.6) |
| Cluster randomized trials | 14 (3.1) |
| Preintervention and postintervention evaluations | 8 (1.8) |
| Clinical setting | |
| Tertiary care hospital | 221 (48.5) |
| Hospital- plus home-based care | 130 (28.5) |
| Primary care hospital | 19 (4.2) |
| Secondary care hospital | 8 (1.8) |
| Community level hospital | 8 (1.8) |
| Not reported | 70 (15.4) |
| Moment of intervention delivery | |
| Rehabilitationa | 228 (50.0) |
| Discharge period | 123 (27.0) |
| Chronic phase | 82 (18.0) |
| Combination | 19 (4.2) |
| Before and after discharge | 1 (0.2) |
| Not reported | 3 (0.7) |
| Intervention delivery mode | |
| NPHW | 152 (33.3) |
| Technology | 41 (9.0) |
| Telephone calls | 39 (8.6) |
| Text messages | 9 (2.0) |
| Combinationb | 170 (37.3) |
| Not reported | 45 (9.9) |
| Intervention frequency | |
| Weekly to biweekly | 103 (22.6) |
| Monthly to bimonthly | 37 (8.1) |
| Every 3 mo | 24 (5.3) |
| Irregular | 141 (30.9) |
| Single episode | 6 (1.3) |
| Not reported | 145 (31.8) |
| Intervention duration, y | |
| <1 | 258 (56.6) |
| 1-2 | 123 (27.0) |
| 3-5 | 11 (2.4) |
| >5 | 1 (0.2) |
| Not reported | 63 (13.8) |
| Location (World Bank region) | |
| Europe and Central Asia | 110 (24.1) |
| East Asia and the Pacific | 97 (21.3) |
| North America | 93 (20.4) |
| Middle East and North Africa | 12 (2.6) |
| South Asia | 10 (2.2) |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 10 (2.2) |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 4 (0.9) |
| Not reported | 120 (26.3) |
| Income groupc | |
| High-income countries | 255 (75.9) |
| Upper-middle–income countries | 68 (20.2) |
| Lower-middle–income countries | 13 (3.9) |
| Low-income countries | 0 |
| Funding source | |
| Government | 146 (32.0) |
| Private | 25 (5.5) |
| Nonprofit organization | 23 (5.0) |
| No funding | 19 (4.2) |
| Not reported | 243 (53.3) |
Abbreviations: CVD, cardiovascular disease; HCPPR, Health Care Provider Performance Review; ICT, information communication technology; NPHW, nonphysician health worker; RCT, randomized clinical trial.
a
Indicates cardiac rehabilitation (eg, a customized outpatient program of exercise and education).
b
Indicates more than 1 intervention delivery mode (eg, NPHW, technology, and/or telephone calls were combined).
c
Indicates World Bank classification for 45 countries in 336 studies that were classified.