Cardiac Rehabilitation Use Low in Distressed Communities

However, participation is universally tied to clinical benefits

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 29, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Although community-level distress is associated with lower cardiac rehabilitation (CR) participation, the clinical benefits are universal across all communities, according to a study published in the November issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Michael P. Thompson, Ph.D., from Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, and colleagues evaluated the relationship between community-level distress and CR participation, access to CR facilities, and clinical outcomes. The analysis included 414,730 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing inpatient coronary revascularization between July 2016 and December 2018.

The researchers found that any CR use was lower for beneficiaries in distressed versus prosperous communities (26.0 versus 46.1 percent), which remained significant after multivariable adjustment (odds ratio, 0.41). One-quarter of beneficiaries (23.7 percent) had a CR facility within their ZIP code, which increased from 16.3 percent in prosperous communities to 26.6 percent in distressed communities. There was an association observed between any CR use and absolute reductions in mortality (−6.8 percent), all-cause hospitalization (−5.9 percent), and acute myocardial infarction hospitalization (−1.3 percent), which were similar across Distressed Community Index quintiles.

“Addressing barriers to participation in cardiac rehabilitation in distressed communities may improve outcomes for these patients and reduce longstanding disparities in such outcomes,” Thompson said in a statement.

One author disclosed ties to Medtronic, Abbott, FineHeart, and CH Biomedical.

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