(Reuters Health) – Just one in three patients enrolls in recommended cardiac rehabilitation after having a blocked heart artery cleared and a stent inserted, a Michigan study suggests.
Despite benefits from rehabilitation such as better quality of life and lower rates of rehospitalization, patients may not attend these sessions because of issues related to insurance, costs and access to a rehab facility, the study authors report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Efforts to get doctors to increase their referrals of patients for cardiac rehab have worked, the authors write, but more needs to be done to make sure patients attend the sessions.
“The use of cardiac rehabilitation after coronary stenting carries the strongest recommendation in our clinical practice guidelines,” said lead author Dr. Devraj Sukul of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“Unfortunately, the use of cardiac rehabilitation among eligible patients remains low,” he told Reuters…
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