title: Cardiac rehabilitation in African Americans: evidence for poorer outcomes compared with whites, especially in women and diabetic participants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves coronary artery disease risk factors and mortality. Outcomes after CR in African Americans (AAs) compared with whites have not been studied extensively.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,096 patients (169 AAs, 927 whites) were enrolled in a 36-session CR program for ischemic heart disease or postcardiac surgery. The program consisted of exercise, lifestyle modification, and pharmacotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After CR, quality of life, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol improved significantly in both AAs and whites, although to a lesser degree in AAs. Whites also had significant improvements in weight and triglyceride concentrations. Overall, mean peak exercise capacity, measured in metabolic equivalents (METs), improved by only 1.6 (95% CI 1.3-1.8) in AAs compared with 2.4 (2.3-2.6) in CCs (P< .001 for AAs vs CCs). African American women had the least improvement in METs, but changes were still significant (1.1 [CI 0.9-1.4]). The subgroup with the least improvement in METs was AA diabetic patients (1.4 (CI 1.1-1.7]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  African Americans derive a significant benefit from CR, but not to the same degree as whites, based on changes in risk factors and in exercise capacity. Within both ethnic groups, both women and diabetic patients appeared to have markedly less improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sacrinty
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Hardik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paladenech
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC. Electronic address: Kcrobins@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Killian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL