title: Cardiac rehabilitation as secondary prevention center.
abstract: Coronary heart disease is the major cause of death in most industrialized countries and is increasing rapidly in many developing nations. Cardiac rehabilitation programs have evolved from predominantly exercise-based programs into comprehensive secondary prevention programs. Studies of efficacy and effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation document reductions in mortality and improvements in clinical and behavioral outcomes beyond the improvements in morbidity and mortality already available through revascularization and effective pharmacotherapy, but cardiac rehabilitation, like many preventive measures, is under-utilized. Future research directions are outlined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. vbittner@uab.edu
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bittner
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sanderson
mesh_terms: D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic