Digital Health Intervention as an Adjunct to Cardiac Rehabilitation Reduces Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Rehospitalizations

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) following myocardial infarction is vastly underused. As such, the aim of this study was to test a digital health intervention (DHI) as an adjunct to CR. Patients undergoing standard Mayo Clinic CR were recruited prior to CR (n = 25) or after 3 months CR (n = 17). Changes in risk factors and rehospitalizations plus emergency department (ED) visits were assessed after 3 months. Patients assigned to DHI during CR had significant reductions in weight (-4.0 +/- 5.2 kg, P = .001), blood pressure (-10.8 +/- 13.5 mmHg, P = .0009), and the group using DHI after 3 months of CR had significant reductions in weight (-2.5 +/- 3.8 kg, P = .04) and systolic BP (-12.6 +/- 12.4 mmHg, P = .001) compared to the control groups. Both DHI groups also displayed significant reductions in rehospitalizations/ED visits (-37.9 %, P = 0.01 and -28 %, P = .04, respectively). This study suggests that a guideline-driven DHI CR program can augment secondary prevention strategies during usual CR by improving risk factors for repeat events.