Effect of cardiac rehabilitation on physical and mental health components: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Background and Aim: Cardiovascular disease can affect physical and mental conditions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of phase 1 and 2 of cardiac rehabilitation on physical and mental health components in the patients with acute coronary syndrome. Materials and methods: This clinical trial study included 50 patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to the coronary care units of the hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences between 2013 and 2014. The participants were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. The experimental group performed cardiac rehabilitation program and the control group received routine care. QOL-sf36 questioner was used before and one month after intervention to assess physical and mental health components. Using SPSS18 software, data were analyzed by T- test. Results: There were no significant differences in the demographic variables and cardiovascular risk factors between the experimental and control groups. The mean scores of physical component and mental component after intervention, were 40.9± 9.9 and 37.7 ±10.4 in the control group and 46.9±8.6 and 45.3±10.6 in the experimental group respectively. The results of T-test showed that the mean scores of physical (p=0.02) and mental (p=0.01) health components in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cardiac rehabilitation program can improve physical and mental health components in the patients with acute coronary syndrome. © 2016, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.