Cardiac rehabilitation in patients with acute coronary syndrome with primary percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with improved 10-year survival

Abstract

We aimed to assess the effects of a multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program on survival after treatment with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Using propensity matching analysis, a total of 1159 patients undergoing CR were 1:1 matched with ACS patients who did not undergo CR and survived at least 60 days. The Kaplan–Meier analyses and multivariate Cox regression analysis were applied to study differences in survival. During follow-up, a total of 335 (14.5%) patients had died. Cumulative mortality rates at 5 and 10 years were 6.4% and 14.7% after CR and 10.4% and 23.5% in the no CR group (P < 0.001). Cardiac rehabilitation patients had 39% lower mortality than non-CR controls [10-year mortality 14.7% vs. 23.5%; adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.46–0.81]. A total of 915 (78.9%) patients completed CR and had 46% lower mortality than those who did not complete CR (10-year mortality 13.6% vs. 18.9%; adjusted HR 0.54; 95% CI 0.42–0.70). Patients who underwent pPCI for ACS, with a CR program had lower mortality than their non-CR counterparts. Mortality was particularly low in patients who completed the program. In conclusion, CR is still beneficial in terms of survival.