Gustė Burneikaitė1, Kamilė Dumalakaitė1
1Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Academy of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania
Abstract
Cardiac rehabilitation, which involves many medical fields, is a great secondary prevention tool for most cardiovascular diseases or after cardiological interventions; this is a class IA recommendation all around the world. Many studies show improvement of life quality, lower numbers of mortality, morbidity, and recurrent hospitalizations. To get even better results it is important to involve more patients in the program, as only a small percentage of patients is referred to and finishes the whole rehabilitation program these days. Cardiac rehabilitation provides comprehensive care to patients and its main components are physical and psychological therapy as well as risk factors, such as smoking or arterial hypertension, elimination. Various researches have proven that cardiac rehabilitation is highly beneficial for people with ischemic heart disease, heart failure, or after cardiological interventions. However, to find out if it is effective for those with atrial fibrillation or heart transplant, more detailed and longer studies are needed. This literature analysis reviews the concept, purpose, methods, and use of cardiac rehabilitation as the secondary prevention method for various cardiovascular diseases.
Keywords: cardiac rehabilitation, cardiovascular diseases, risk factors, physical rehabilitation.