Cardiac rehabilitation and survival in a large representative community cohort of Dutch patients

AIMS: To assess the effects of multi-disciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on survival in the full population of patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and patients that underwent coronary revascularization and/or heart valve surgery. METHODS AND RESULTS: Population-based cohort study in the Netherlands using insurance claims database covering ∼22% of the Dutch population (3.3 million persons). All patients with an ACS with or without ST elevation, and patients who underwent coronary revascularization and/or valve surgery in the period 2007-10 were included. Patients were categorized as having received CR when an insurance claim for CR was made within the first 180 days after the cardiac event or revascularization. The primary outcome was survival time from the inclusion date, limited to a total follow-up period of 4 years, with a minimum of 180 days. Propensity score weighting was used to control for confounding by indication. Among 35 919 patients with an ACS and/or coronary revascularization or valve surgery, 11 014 (30.7%) received CR. After propensity score weighting, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) associated with receiving CR was 0.65 (95% CI 0.56-0.77). The largest benefit was observed for patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and/or valve surgery (HR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.42-0.74). CONCLUSION: In a large and representative community cohort of Dutch patients with an ACS and/or intervention, CR was associated with a substantial survival benefit up to 4 years. This survival benefit was present regardless of age, type of diagnosis, and type of intervention.