Women and the elderly who skip out on cardiac rehab could be missing big benefits

Cardiac rehab is an integral component of recovering from serious cardiac problems and may help prevent more. Yet a new study finds that women and the elderly don’t always take advantage of rehab programs, even when they’re recommended. Another study sheds light on why women may be reluctant to go.

In the first study, researchers followed 5,901 people referred to cardiac rehab from 1996 to 2009. Of that group, 2,900 participated in a program. They tended to be male, younger, and had fewer other diseases or disorders.

After three years, going to rehab was linked with a lower risk of going to the emergency room or being hospitalized, and a lower risk of death.

In the abstract of the study, presented this week at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010 in Montreal, the authors wrote, “Given the significant clinical benefits and resource utilization improvements that may be realized through [cardiac rehab], greater attention should be placed on ... referring all eligible subjects to [cardiac rehab] irrespective of age and sex; and ... addressing barriers to attendance.”

In the second study, also presented at the meeting, researchers focused on 31 female cardiac patients, average age about 65, who had been referred to cardiac rehab.

More than half of the women (61.3%) took part in a rehab program. Mentioned most frequently as obstacles to attending rehab were family responsibilities, distance, severe weather, already exercising and transportation problems. Patients with arthritis had more difficulties attending than those without arthritis.

In the abstract, the authors wrote, “Referral to structured and monitored home-based CR programs could enable patients to overcome many of these barriers, because of its inherent flexibility in terms of hours and location.”