1. Efficacy of telecardiology in improving the results of cardiac rehabilitation after acute myocardial infarction
- Author
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Anna De Lorenzo, Alessandra Vitelli, Francesco Giallauria, Carlo Vigorito, Athanasio Manakos, Domenico Del Forno, Marianna Psaroudaki, Luigi Maresca, Francesco Pilerci, Mariantonietta D'Agostino, Rosa Lucci, Giallauria, F., Lucci, R., Pilerci, F., De Lorenzo, A., Manakos, A., Psaroudaki, M., Dagostino, M., Vitelli, A., Maresca, L., DEL FORNO, Domenico, and Vigorito, Carlo
- Subjects
Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Psychometrics ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Myocardial Infarction ,lcsh:Medicine ,Group B ,Quality of life ,Internal medicine ,Heart rate ,medicine ,Humans ,Myocardial infarction ,Aged ,Rehabilitation ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,Case-control study ,telecardiology ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Home Care Services ,Telemedicine ,cardiac rehabilitation ,Case-Control Studies ,Physical therapy ,Electrocardiography, Ambulatory ,Exercise Test ,Quality of Life ,Anxiety ,Patient Compliance ,medicine.symptom ,Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine ,business ,Electrocardiography ,Program Evaluation - Abstract
Background: This study was addressed to verify if Telecardiology (TC) improves the results of Cardiac Rehabilitation in patients following a home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (CRP) after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Materials and Methods: We studied three groups of patients after AMI: Group A (control group): 15 patients, who followed a standard in-hospital CRP of 3 weekly sessions of 2 months duration; Group B (study group): 15 patients, who were enrolled in a home-based CRP of similar duration and were monitored by TC with the aid of an ecg-device (Sorin Life Watch CG 6106); Group C (second control group): 15 patients, who followed a home-based CRP without ecgmonitoring by TC. All patients performed a symptom-limited exercise testing at the beginning of the CRP. Psychometric data (STAI-Y1, STAI-Y2, BDI) were also evaluated. At the end of the CRP all patients underwent repeated exercise testing and psychometric evaluation. Results: TC applied to the home-based CRP was associated with a good compliance to the program. Compared to Group C, in Group B we observed an increase of maximal heart rate, exercise duration, maximal work-load, and an improvement of anxiety, a trend to reduction of depression, and an improvement of quality of life. These results were very similar to Group A patients following a hospital-based CRP. Conclusions: TC improves compliance, functional capacity and psychological profile of patients undergoing a home-based CRP, compared to patients enrolled in a homebased CRP without ecg-monitoring by Telecardiology.
- Published
- 2006