Patient mortality in the 12 years following enrolment into a pre-surgical cardiac rehabilitation programme:

Objective: This study examined whether involvement in a pre-surgical cardiac rehabilitation programme conferred a long-term survival benefit.Design: Patients randomly allocated to a pre-surgical cardiac rehabilitation programme intervention or a control group were tracked through national databases at a point approximately 12 years later, and all causes of mortality were identified from death records. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses based on involvement in a cardiac rehabilitation programme and known pre-surgical risk factors were carried out.Setting: Two health boards in the west of Scotland, referring to a single cardiothoracic tertiary centre.Subjects: Patients admitted to the waiting list for coronary artery bypass surgery.Interventions: Patients were randomly allocated to a control group (‘usual’ care) or an intervention group (nurse-led cardiac rehabilitation) in the pre-operative phase. They were followed up at 12 years post surgery.Main measures: The only outcome measure used for analysis was survi...