Efficacy and safety of remote cardiac rehabilitation in the recovery phase of cardiovascular diseases (RecRCR study): A multicenter, nonrandomized, and interventional trial in Japan.

Backgrounds: Remote cardiac rehabilitation has proven useful in patients with cardiovascular disease; however, the methodology had not been fully validated. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of remote cardiac rehabilitation (RCR) with real-time monitoring and an ergometer using a bidirectional communication tool during the recovery phase of cardiovascular diseases.
Methods: This multicenter, nonrandomized, interventional study was conducted at 29 institutions across Japan and enrolled patients with cardiovascular diseases who met indications for cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after receiving in-hospital treatment. The RCR group exercised at home using an ergometer and was monitored in real-time using interactive video and monitoring tools for 2-3 months. Educational instructions were provided concurrently through e-learning approaches. The safety of the RCR protocol and the improvement in peak oxygen consumption (VO2) were compared with those of the historical control group that participated in center-based CR.
Results: Fifty-three patients from the RCR group were compared with 103 historical controls having similar background characteristics. No patients in RCR experienced significant cardiovascular complications while engaging in exercise sessions. After 2-3 months of RCR, the peak VO2 improved significantly, and the increases in the RCR group did not exhibit any significant differences compared to those in the historical controls. During follow-up, the proportion of patients whose exercise capacity increased by 10% or more was also evaluated; this finding did not indicate a statistically significant distinction between the groups.
Conclusions: RCR during the recovery phase of cardiovascular diseases proved equally efficient and safe as center-based CR.
Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Eisuke Amiya belongs to the Department, endowed by NIPRO-Corp, Terumo-Corp., Senko-Medical-Instrument-Mfg., Century-Medical, Inc., ONO-pharmaceutical-Co., Ltd. Medtronic-JAPAN Co., Ltd, Nippon-Shinyaku Co., Ltd, Mochida Pharmaceutical Co.; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., Abiomed-Inc, AQuA-Inc, Fukuda-Denshi Co., Ltd, and Sun-Medical-Technology-Research Corp. Eisuke Amiya received research funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.
(© 2024 The Author(s).)