| Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a growing epidemic and economic burden in Canada and North America. Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs (CRP) have been proven to reduce CVD risk, decrease health care cost and decrease mortality by 25%. With current waitlists of 2 to 5 months and the inaccessibility of CRP to suburban and rural patients, conducting cardiac rehabilitation through the Internet will decrease barriers related to distance and service delivery and allow patients from around the province to interact with cardiac rehabilitation specialists, essentially bridging the treatment gap. The virtual cardiac rehabilitation program (vCRP) was a randomized controlled trial (n=15) investigating a 12-week web-based CRP. Outcome investigated were changes in exercise capacity, physical activity participation, lipid profiles, diet composition and level of self-efficacy. Significant findings within the intervention group included the lipid values for HDL-C (p. <0.025), TG (p. < 0.012), TC/HDL-C ratio (p. < 0.012), self-efficacy (p. <0.018) and physical activity participation (p. < 0.018). There was also a clinically significant finding with an increase in exercise capacity. Other reported outcomes from patient interviews indicate overall satisfaction with the program and noted positive behaviour change.;Keywords. cardiac rehabilitation, telehealth, cardiovascular disease, exercise capacity, rural health, virtual cardiac program. |
