TORONTO, August 19, 2014  – The quality of cardiac rehabilitation programs across Canada is strong, with specific criteria areas now identified as requiring further enhancement to improve patient outcomes, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, York University and UHN.

“We are the first to comprehensively assess cardiac rehabilitation quality --- what we are doing well and where we should do better --- to this degree across the country,” says Dr. Sherry Grace, study author, Director of Research, GoodLife Fitness Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Unit, University Health Network, and York Kinesiology & Health Science Professor. “Being able to rigorously evaluate and compare across cardiac rehabilitation programs nationally means gaps can be addressed and changes made, to ultimately benefit patients who have heart disease,” she says.

Set to be published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, the study measured 14 key quality indicators in 10 cardiac rehabilitation programs across Canada, assessing over 5,500 cardiac patients. The criteria examined included: accessibility, wait times, referrals, secondary prevention, behaviour changes and psychosocial measures.

“Recovery from a heart attack, open heart surgery or other related procedures improves substantially when a patient participates fully in a cardiac rehabilitation program,” says Dr. Barry Rubin, Medical Director, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. “With tens of thousands of new patients across Canada being treated for heart disease each year, it is imperative that patients participate in the program of exercise and education that form the basis for cardiac rehab as part of their recovery, to prevent their risk of experiencing another serious cardiac event. This leading-edge study makes that goal more attainable,” he says.

The study found that cardiac rehabilitation programs are successful in: assessing patients’ body composition (85 per cent, measuring blood pressure (90 per cent, increasing exercise capacity (68 per cent) and offering cessation therapy to patients who smoke (61 per cent). Areas requiring improvement included: measuring blood sugar in patients with diabetes (23 per cent) and assessment of depression (13 per cent).

Research has shown that heart patients who engage in cardiac rehab are 25 per cent less likely to die, than patients who do not participate in cardiac rehab. At the same time, only about 30 per cent of heart patients who are hospitalized and who qualify to participate in a cardiac rehab program actually do so.

The United States and Europe have also developed some quality indicators for cardiac rehab. Canada is the first country to nationally assess program quality.

The study was funded in part by the BRIDGE project managed by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

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Video interview with Dr. Sherry Grace, study author: http://youtu.be/v0T7W_-BVRs

ABOUT THE PETER MUNK CARDIAC CENTRE

The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is the premier cardiac centre in Canada. Since it opened in 1997, the Centre has saved and improved the lives of cardiac and vascular patients from around the world. Each year, approximately 55,000 patients receive innovative and compassionate care from multidisciplinary teams in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and the Centre trains more cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and vascular surgeons than any other hospital in Canada. The Centre is based at the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital - members of University Health Network. www.petermunkcardiaccentre.ca

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For more information:
Lianne Castelino
Senior Public Affairs Advisor
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
416 340 4429
647 669 8416 (cell)
ianne.castelino@uhn.ca

Gloria Suhasini
York University Media Relations
416 736 2100 ext. 22094
suhasini@yorku.ca