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Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation for the 21st Century

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Abstract

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is efficacious in reducing mortality and hospital admissions; however it remains inaccessible to large proportions of the patient population. Removal of attendance barriers for hospital or centre-based CR has seen the promotion of home-based CR. Delivery of safe and appropriately prescribed exercise in the home was first documented 25 years ago, with the utilisation of fixed land-line telecommunications to monitor ECG. The advent of miniature ECG sensors, in conjunction with smartphones, now enables CR to be delivered with greater flexibility with regard to location, time and format, while retaining the capacity for real-time patient monitoring. A range of new systems allow other signals including speed, location, pulse oximetry, and respiration to be monitored and these may have application in CR. There is compelling evidence that telemonitored-based CR is an effective alternative to traditional CR practice. The long-standing barrier of access to centre-based CR, combined with new delivery platforms, raises the question of when telemonitored-based CR could replace conventional approaches as the standard practice.

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Conflict of Interest

Charles Worringham has received grant support for his institution from the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant.

Ian B. Stewart declares he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

    Charles J. Worringham & Ian B. Stewart

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  1. Charles J. Worringham
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  2. Ian B. Stewart
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Correspondence to Charles J. Worringham.

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Worringham, C.J., Stewart, I.B. Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation for the 21st Century. Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep 7, 288–292 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-013-0318-9

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