Cochrane Corner: are there benefits of using web-based interventions in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease?

Cardiovascular diseases cause more deaths annually than any other disease.1 It is possible to successfully reduce cardiac risk factors in people with coronary heart disease (CHD) with secondary prevention interventions. However, many people with CHD do not take part in these programmes. Recent data show that 47% of people discharged following myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass surgery in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 2013 and 2014 took part in a cardiac rehabilitation programme.2 One way to improve access to these programmes is to provide programmes at home. A previous Cochrane review reported the effectiveness of home-based programmes compared with centre-based cardiac rehabilitation programmes.3 No differences between these programmes in the number of clinical events, exercise capacity, blood pressure, total cholesterol, proportion of smokers or health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were reported. Secondary prevention programmes can also be delivered...
Source: Heart - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Drugs: cardiovascular system, Cochrane Corner, Hypertension, Interventional cardiology, Acute coronary syndromes, Percutaneous intervention, Epidemiology, Tobacco use Editorials Source Type: research