Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation for Coronary Heart Disease: What the Pooled Trial Evidence Shows About Mortality, Hospital Admission, and Quality of Life

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with adults after myocardial infarction, bypass surgery, or coronary stenting, in cardiac rehabilitation programs, acute care, home health, or outpatient settings, and who want a clear account of what the pooled randomized evidence for exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation actually shows.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Also useful to occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, nurses, and rehabilitation managers involved in cardiac rehabilitation services.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is a plain-language summary of one published meta-analysis. All findings, figures, and conclusions reported in this course come from that paper.

Dibben GO, Faulkner J, Oldridge N, Rees K, Thompson DR, Zwisler AD, Taylor RS. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. Eur Heart J. 2023;44(6):452–469. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac747. PMID: 36746187. PMCID: PMC9902155.

Scope note

This course reports what the review found and what its authors concluded. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add evidence from outside the source paper.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, intervention, and comparison used in this updated meta-analysis of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease.
2. State the direction of the pooled findings for cardiovascular death, recurrent heart attack, hospital admission, overall death, and quality of life as reported by the review authors.
3. Explain the main limitations the authors identified and the conclusion they drew about the generalizability and cost-effectiveness of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation.

1. Start Here: how this course works and what it covers
2. Audio Overview: Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation in Coronary Heart Disease (about ten minutes)
3. Coronary Heart Disease and the Case for Exercise-Based Rehabilitation
4. Finding and Combining the Trials
5. Mortality, Recurrent Events, and Hospital Admission
6. Quality of Life, Costs, and Where the Evidence Is Shaky
7. What the Authors Concluded for Rehabilitation Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course is a plain-language summary of one published meta-analysis. All findings, figures, and conclusions reported in this course come from that paper.
2. Dibben GO, Faulkner J, Oldridge N, Rees K, Thompson DR, Zwisler AD, Taylor RS. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. Eur Heart J. 2023;44(6):452–469. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehac747. PMID: 36746187. PMCID: PMC9902155.
3. Scope note
4. This course reports what the review found and what its authors concluded. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add evidence from outside the source paper.