Mixed
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly reduces total and cardiovascular mortality in patients with coronary heart disease when followed for 12 months or longer.
If you have coronary heart disease, participating in a structured exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program for at least 12 months significantly lowers your risk of dying from heart-related causes. While it may not prevent heart attacks or the need for procedures like stents, it saves lives. Ensure you are referred to a program, as access can be difficult.
In medium to longer term (i.e. 12 or more months follow-up) exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation reduced overall and cardiovascular mortality [RR 0.87 (95% CI 0.75, 0.99) and 0.74 (95% CI 0.63, 0.87), respectively]
Why this rating
Based on a Cochrane systematic review of 47 RCTs involving 10,794 patients, representing high-level evidence.
Source
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease
Balraj S Heran et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2011
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