Clinical InvestigationPrevention and RehabilitationCurrent status of cardiac rehabilitation in Latin America and the Caribbean
Section snippets
Methods
We identified health care facilities that offer cardiac catheterization in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. We carried out a telephone-based survey on the availability and characteristics of CVRP.
Results
A total of 98 centers were initially contacted. Surveys were completed by 59 centers (60%) from 13 countries (Figure 1). The population-weighted sample per country was reached for all countries except Brazil, where the quota was not met because only 4 out of 31 centers (12%) returned completed questionnaires, and Cuba, where no contacts where made. Most of the questionnaires were filled by telephone (n = 53, 90%). Few centers (n = 6, 10%) were not available after 3 phone call attempts; their
Discussion
The results of this survey provide data to support the hypothesis that the availability of CVRP in Latin America is very limited and less than the availability of other advanced and more expensive cardiac services. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey assessing the availability and characteristics of CVRP services in Latin America. Less than 60% of the surveyed hospitals that treat acute cardiac patients in Latin America offer CVRP. The study also demonstrates that, in Latin
Conclusion
Despite plentiful evidence of the benefits of CVRP after a cardiac event, the availability and implementation of CVRP in Latin America is limited. Lack of referral, cost concerns, limitations in the availability of trained personnel and space, and the misperception that CVRP lacks significant benefits, are some of the barriers that appear to explain the low availability and underuse of CVRP in Latin America. Strategies to increase the availability and application of CVRP in Latin America are
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the help of Dr Hermes Ilarraza-Lomelí, Director of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation at Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chavéz for his assistance with this study.
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Part of the content of this manuscript has been presented in the World Congress of Cardiology - Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 18-21, 2008.