Effects of the Strong Hearts program at two years post program completion

• Published in: Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (Online) Vol. 125; no. 5; pp. 225 - 227
• Main Authors: Murphy, Bruce E., Card, Peyton D., Ramirez-Kelly, Leybi, Wensley, Brandon, Heidel, Robert E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany De Gruyter 01.05.2025; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: Aged; cardiovascular; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality; Cardiovascular Diseases - therapy; exercise; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; long term outcomes; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Patient Readmission - statistics & numerical data; Program Evaluation; long term outcomes; cardiovascular; exercise
• ISSN: 2702-3648; 2702-3648
• DOI: 10.1515/jom-2024-0083

This is a follow-up to the original published article, Effects of the Strong Hearts Program after a Major Cardiovascular Event in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease. This study evaluated the long-term efficacy of the Strong Hearts program up to 2 years after program completion. All study participants who initially completed the Strong Hearts program between 2020 and 2021 (n=128) were contacted at 12 months and 24 months following the date of program completion. A phone survey was conducted to see if any significant post-cardiovascular events or readmissions to the hospital occurred, and self-reported dates of any occurrences were recorded. Hospital readmissions and cardiac-related procedures were cross-referenced with the hospital's electronic medical record. A chi-square goodness-of-fit analysis was utilized to compare the observed rates of categorical outcomes vs. expected rates yielded from the empirical literature. The rate of all-cause readmission at 6 months post-program completion was 2/120 (1.7 %), compared to the expected rate of 50 %, χ (1) = 112.13, p<0.001. The readmission rate at 1 year post-program completion was 17/120 (14.2 %), vs. the expected rate of 45 %, χ (1) = 46.09, p<0.001, and at 2 years post-program completion, the readmission rate was 24/120 (20.0 %) compared to the expected rate of 53.8 %, χ (1) = 56.43, p<0.001. Ten participants (8.3 %) had a subsequent cardiac procedure within 2 years of completing the program, including two requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (1.7 %) and eight requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, 6.7 %), compared to the expected rates of 13.4 and 57.74 %, χ (1)=153.08, p<0.001, respectively. Mortality at 2 years post-program completion was 2/128 (1.6 %), compared to 23.4 %, χ (1)=34.13, p<0.001. Efficacy of the Strong Hearts program continued at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years post-program completion in terms of all-cause readmission, subsequent cardiac event, and all-cause mortality.