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Background: Achievement of secondary prevention guideline recommendations (i.e., goals) with cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is not well-documented, especially for women. This study examined achievement of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) goals before and after CR by gender., Methods: Of 12,976 patients enrolled in the Wisconsin CR Outcomes Registry, 8,929 (68.8%) completed CR and were included in the sample. Attainment of 15 AHA/ACC goals before and after CR was examined by extracting corresponding data points in the registry as entered by CR program staff. Gender differences in achievement of these goals after CR were examined via generalized estimating equations technique., Results: Attainment of AHA/ACC goals before CR ranged from 15.3% of patients (physical activity) to 98.1% (aspirin), and by 17.6% (physical activity) to 98.4% (diastolic blood pressure) by CR completion. Significant improvements were achieved for 8 goals (53.3%), ranging from 0.7% for body mass index (BMI) to 50.8% for physical activity. Women were significantly less likely than men to achieve the following goals by CR completion: triglycerides (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45-0.66), physical activity (AOR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.59-0.74), and hemoglobin A1C (AOR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.32-0.78). Women were significantly more likely than men to achieve the high-density lipoprotein goal (AOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.05-1.86). There were no gender differences in goal achievement for blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, BMI, smoking cessation, or medication use. More than 94% of patients were taking three of four recommended secondary prevention medications both before and after the program., Conclusions: Men and women generally improved similarly in terms of AHA/ACC goal achievement. Quality improvement strategies need to focus on physical activity and blood glucose control in women., (Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is underutilized despite well-documented benefits for patients with coronary heart disease. The purpose of this study was to identify organizational and patient factors associated with CR enrollment., Methods: Facilities of the Wisconsin Cardiac Rehabilitation Outcomes Registry (N = 38) were surveyed, and the records of referred patients were analyzed. Generalized estimating equations were used to account for clustering of patients within facilities., Results: Of the 6874 patients referred to the 38 facilities, 67.6% (n = 4,644) enrolled in CR. Patients receiving coronary artery bypass grafting (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.72; 95% CI: 1.36-2.19) and those who possessed health insurance (OR, 3.04; 95% CI: 2.00-4.63) were more likely to enroll. Enrollment was also positively impacted by organizational factors, including promotion of CR program (OR, 2.35; 95% CI: 1.39-4.00), certification by the American Association of Cardiovascular Pulmonary Rehabilitation (OR, 2.63; 95% CI: 1.32-5.35), and a rural location (OR, 3.30; 95% CI: 2.35-4.64). Patients aged ≥65 years (OR, 0.81; 95% CI: 0.74-0.90) and patients with heart failure (OR, 0.40; 95% CI: 0.22-0.72), diabetes (OR, 0.58; 95% CI: 0.37-0.89), myocardial infarction without a cardiac procedure (OR, 0.78; 95% CI: 0.67-0.90), previous coronary artery bypass grafting (OR, 0.72; 95% CI: 0.56-0.92), depression (OR, 0.56; 95% CI: 0.36-0.88), or current smoking (OR, 0.59; 95% CI: 0.44-0.78) were less likely to enroll., Conclusions: Predictors of patient enrollment in CR following referral included both organizational and personal factors. Modifiable organizational factors that were associated either positively or negatively with enrollment in CR may help directors of CR programs improve enrollment.