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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Mar 16, 2021; 9(8): 1761-1784
Published online Mar 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i8.1761
Cardiac rehabilitation and its essential role in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases
Petr Winnige, Robert Vysoky, Filip Dosbaba, Ladislav Batalik
Petr Winnige, Robert Vysoky, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Czech Republic, Brno 62500, Jihomoravsky, Czech Republic
Petr Winnige, Filip Dosbaba, Ladislav Batalik, Department of Rehabilitation, University Hospital Brno, Brno 62500, Czech Republic
Robert Vysoky, Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, Brno 62500, Jihomoravsky, Czech Republic
Author contributions: Winnige P, Vysoky R and Batalik L contributed to the conception of the research; Winnige P and Batalik L conducted the data interpretation; Winnige P and Batalik L drafted the manuscript; Winnige P, Vysoky R and Dosbaba F revised and edited the manuscript for content; all authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Masaryk University, No. MUNI/A/1294/2019; and Ministry of Health, Czech Republic – Conceptual Development of Research Organization, No. 65269705.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ladislav Batalik, MSc, PhD, Physiotherapist, Research Scientist, Department of Rehabilitation, University Hospital Brno, Jihlavská 20, Brno 62500, Czech Republic. batalik.ladislav@fnbrno.cz
Received: November 1, 2020
Peer-review started: November 1, 2020
First decision: December 30, 2020
Revised: January 18, 2021
Accepted: February 1, 2021
Article in press: February 1, 2021
Published online: March 16, 2021
Processing time: 123 Days and 20.6 Hours
Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of mortality worldwide. They are frequently the reasons for patient hospitalization, their incapability for work, and disability. These diseases represent a significant socio-economic burden affecting the medical system as well as patients and their families. It has been demonstrated that the etiopathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases is significantly affected by lifestyle, and so modification of the latter is an essential component of both primary and secondary prevention. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) represents an efficient secondary prevention model that is especially based on the positive effect of regular physical activity. This review presents an overview of basic information on CR with a focus on current trends, such as the issue of the various training modalities, utilization, and barriers to it or the use of telemedicine technologies. Appropriate attention should be devoted to these domains, as CR continues evolving as an effective and readily available intervention in the future.

Keywords: Cardiac rehabilitation; Secondary prevention; Cardiovascular diseases; Utilization; Barriers; Telerehabilitation

Core Tip: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an efficient and cost-effective secondary prevention model. It brings many benefits for patients with cardiovascular diseases but also acts at the medical and social system levels. Despite all of this, CR is highly underutilized across the world. There are problems in inconsistent delivery, deficient reimbursement, and further CR participation barriers in individuals. This article represents a comprehensive overview of the current situation and provides future perspectives, such as use of telerehabilitation.