Effect of early cardiac rehabilitation in patients included in the Infarction Code strategy

Abstract

Introduction: Early cardiac rehabilitation (ECR) implemented in the Infarction Code (IC) protocol is a strategy in the care of acute myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of ECR in IC-included patients. Method: Case-control study. Consecutive patients diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction and admitted to a cardiology hospital between February 2015 and June 2017 were included. Two groups were created: I and II, before and after IC and ECR. Results: We included 1141 patients, 220 in group I and 921 in group II, with an age of 62.64 +/- 10.53 years; 80.9 \% were males and 19.1 \% females. The main risk factors for groups I and II were sedentariness, 92.7 \% versus 77.8 \%; dyslipidemia, 80.9 \% versus 55.8 \%; hypertension, 63.2 \% versus 62 \%; smoking, 66.8 \% versus 59.2 \%; and diabetes, 54.5 \% versus 59.1 \%. Rehabilitation was started earlier (1.8 +/- 1.6 versus 4.2 +/- 3.2) and the days spent in intensive therapy and hospitalization were fewer in group II (2.4 +/- 2.2 versus 4.8 +/- 4.1 and 8.6 +/- 5.2 versus 12.3 +/- 7.7, p < 0.0001, respectively), as well as the days of disability (58.6 versus 67.7). Conclusions: IC and ECR are complementary strategies that allow an early discharge from intensive therapy and hospitalization, as well as better quality of life and fewer days of disability leave.