Exploring Patients’ Perspectives On Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: Preferences For Follow-Up, Exercise Readiness, And Telephonic Guidance
Adnan Yaqoob
Rubina Barolia
Laila Akbar Ladak
Furqan Yaqub Pannu
Aamir Hameed Khan
Asif Hanif
Wajeeha Sahar
Rubina Barolia
Laila Akbar Ladak
Furqan Yaqub Pannu
Aamir Hameed Khan
Asif Hanif
Wajeeha Sahar
Keywords: Patients’ readiness for home-based cardiac rehabilitation, Patients’ perspectives, Heart attack, home-based exercises, telephonic follow-ups.
Abstract
Background: After a myocardial infarction, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is essential to the patient's recovery. However, due to limited CR facilities, many patients are not offered CR as a routine procedure, and those who are offered show reluctance due to CR expectations. Therefore, it is important to explore the preferences of patients who survived a heart attack and made changes to their lifestyles and health behaviors.
Purpose: This study aimed to explore patients’ challenges in the uptake of physical follow-ups and preferences about follow-up, exercise readiness, and telephonic guidance through in-depth semi-structured interviews.
Methods: To address the research questions, a qualitative descriptive study approach was employed. Purposive sampling was used to choose participants who had dealt with heart attacks for more than six months. A total of 20 patients were approached from the outpatient departments of a public tertiary care hospital located in Lahore, Pakistan. Participants who consented were asked to participate in semi-structured in-depth interviews in specific rooms within the same hospital. NVIVO software was used to organize and analyze the data. To create the codes, categories, and themes, an inductive coding technique was applied.
Results: Out of 20 interviewees, the majority were males (n-14), 11 were smokers, 12 were treated with PCI and the remaining 8 were treated without coronary intervention. Five themes emerged from participants’ data: 1) challenges of physical follow-up, 2) benefits of telephonic guidance, 3) readiness for home-based exercise, 4) patients’ suggestions, and 5) patients' preference mode of follow-up.
Conclusion: The results showed a distinct viewpoint from the patients regarding what kind of home-based cardiac rehabilitation they would like. Insights shared by patients can help healthcare professionals design tailored interventions for swift recovery after myocardial infarction.