Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and morbidity worldwide. Patients who have had a cardiac event require special attention to regain their quality of life and to maintain and improve their functional capacity; which could be achieved through cardiac rehabilitation. Literature is continuously showing that cardiac rehabilitation needs to be recognised as part of the treatment to cardiovascular disease, as it is beneficial to the patient’s health. It reduces morbidity and mortality, improves exercise capacity, and through education enables the patient to adhere to lifestyle changes. Despite its proven benefits, cardiac rehabilitation participation remains low globally. Primarily, lack of knowledge and understanding of the importance of lifestyle changes and maintaining a balanced diet might hinder participation. Gender, age and level of education also plays a role in enrolling in the programme. Timing of cardiac rehabilitation also affects the patient’s decision to attend for rehabilitation. Early referral, especially during the patient’s hospitalisation by healthcare professionals, particularly doctors, is recommended to improve uptake to cardiac rehabilitation. Encouragement by staff enables the patients more to participate in such programme. Further research is recommended to identify the barriers which patients find in attending cardiac rehabilitation. Research should also focus on preventive cardiology programmes which should be easily accessible by all hospitals worldwide.Citation
Gauci, M. (2015). Barriers to participation in cardiac rehabilitation in Malta (Master's thesis). University of chester, United Kingdom.Publisher
University of ChesterType
Thesis or dissertationLanguage
enCollections
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