Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1373684

Cardiac rehabilitation patient challenges during COVID-19 pandemic: quantitative and qualitative study

Provisionally accepted
Borut Jug Borut Jug 1*Natasa Sedlar Kobe Natasa Sedlar Kobe 2Dejana Stojnic Dejana Stojnic 1Mitja Lainscak Mitja Lainscak 2,3Jerneja Farkas Jerneja Farkas 2,4
  • 1 University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 2 General Hospital Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota, Slovenia
  • 3 University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • 4 National Institute for Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background. This study aimed to quantitatively assess stress, anxiety and obsessive thinking related to coronavirus disease-19 and qualitatively appraise perceptions in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods. We used mixed-methods design in patients referred for CR in 2 centres which delivered uninterrupted service during COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS), COVID-19 Stress Scale (CSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and in-person interviews (combination of a priori questions and probing) were used to evaluate patient experience and perceptions with COVID-19 and the healthcare services during pandemic.Results. In total, 109 patients (mean age 59±10, 20% women) were included in quantitative part and in 30 of them we conducted the in-person interviews. About a quarter of patients met HADS threshold for anxiety and depression while CAS and OCS results demonstrated extremely low possibility of coronavirus related dysfunctional thinking (3%) and anxiety (2%). The CSS indicated the most prevalent concerns were related to COVID-19 vaccines safety (60%) and fear of getting infected (60%). During interviews, patients perceived the CR as well as health care providers as safe, trustworthy and with enough support to avoid or manage COVID-19 related health risks.Overall, patients reported AMI affected their lives more than the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 related stress and anxiety were relatively low and mostly related to general views of infectious disease. CR was perceived safe and trustworthy in terms of primary disease and COVID-19.Lay summary. This mixed-method study included 109 patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent cardiac rehabilitation during the COVID-19 and focused on their experience and perceptions with COVID-19 and the healthcare services during pandemic.patients reported acute myocardial infarction affected their lives more than the COVID-19 pandemic.-The COVID-19 related concerns were mostly related to general views of infectious disease (vaccine safety, fear of getting infected) whilst cardiac rehabilitation was perceived safe and trustworthy environment during COVID-19

    Keywords: acute myocardial infarction, Patients, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Coronavirus disease, pandemic, Psychological experience

    Received: 20 Jan 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jug, Sedlar Kobe, Stojnic, Lainscak and Farkas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Borut Jug, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.