In the months following a heart attack, those who are more attached to your cardiac rehabilitation program are much more likely to be alive years later, according to a new study.
In the first study to investigate the cumulative effect of sticking to multiple recommendations in cardiac rehabilitation, researchers found significant benefits with each additional goal achieved.
The study identified that people who managed to meet all recommendations had a mortality rate of up to 43% lower than the less aware.
This goes against the idea that there may be diminishing returns from cardiac rehabilitation, without an additional improvement in survival once a person reaches a certain level of compliance.
Serious engagement
The findings reinforce the value of cardiac rehabilitation programs and the importance of patients’ commitment to their recovery and a healthy lifestyle.
They were unable to determine the effectiveness of other important behavioral measures, such as improvements in diet and exercise, to increase survival because these factors were not in medical records.
Other unmeasured factors may have confused your results. People who were generally healthier at the beginning of the study may have found it easier to meet guidelines, for example.
In addition, because reliable death records were not always available, researchers used all-cause mortality figures in their analysis. This means that some people will likely have died from causes beyond their cardiovascular health.
