Patients’ expectations of returning to work, co-morbid disorders and work capacity at discharge from cardiac rehabilitation

Annett Salzwedel,1 Rona Reibis,2 Miralem Hadzic,1 Hermann Buhlert,3 Heinz Völler1,31Department of Rehabilitation Research, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; 2Cardiological Outpatient Clinik Am Park Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany; 3Department of Cardiology, Klinik Am See, Rehabilitation Centre of Cardiovascular Diseases, Rüdersdorf, GermanyObjective: We aimed to characterize patients after an acute cardiac event regarding their negative expectations around returning to work and the impact on work capacity upon discharge from cardiac rehabilitation (CR).Methods: We analyzed routine data of 884 patients (52±7 years, 76% men) who attended 3 weeks of inpatient CR after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or cardiac surgery between October 2013 and March 2015. The primary outcome was their status determining their capacity to work (fit vs unfit) at discharge from CR. Further, sociodemographic data (eg, age, sex, and education level), diagnoses, functional data (eg, exercise stress test and 6-min walking test [6MWT]), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and self-assessment of the occupational prognosis (negative expectations and/or unemployment, Würzburger screening) at admission to CR were considered.Results: A negative occupational prognosis was detected in 384 patients (43%). Out of these, 368 (96%) expected not to return to work after CR and/or were unemployed before CR at 29% (n=113). Affected patients showed a reduced exercise capacity (bicycle stress test: 100 W vs 118 W, P