Remote cardiac rehabilitation program during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients with stable coronary artery disease after percutaneous coronary intervention: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic restricts rapid implementation of in-person delivery of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) at the center for coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), thus enabling a cohort comparison of in-person vs. remote CR program. This study aims to investigate outcomes of exercise capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQL), mental health, and family burden of stable CAD patients undergoing PCI in low-to-moderate risk after different delivery models of CR program. METHODS: The study included a cohort of stable CAD patients undergoing PCI who had experienced two naturally occurring modes of CR program after hospital discharge at two time periods, January 2019 to December 2019 (in-person CR program) and May 2020 to May 2021 (remote CR program). The exercise capacity was assessed by means of 6-min walk test (6MWT), maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max) and the respiratory anaerobic threshold (VO(2AT)) before discharge, at the end of the 8-week and 12-week in-person or remote CR program after discharge. RESULTS: No adverse events occurred during the CR period. CAD patients had a longer distance walked in 6 min with a higher VO(2max) after 8-week and 12-week CR program whether in-person or remote model (p < 0.05). The distance walked in 6 min was longer and the maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max) was higher at the end of the 12-week in-person or remote CR program than 8-week in-person or remote CR program (p < 0.05). The respiratory anaerobic threshold (VO(2AT)) of CAD patients was decreased after 8-week CR program whether in-person or remote model (p < 0.05). CAD patients receiving remote CR program exhibited higher HRQL scores in domains of vitality (p = 0.048), role emotional (p = 0.039), mental health (p = 0.014), and the summary score of the mental composite (p = 0.048) compared to in-person CR program after 8 weeks. The anxiety and depression scores of CAD patients undergoing PCI were decreased after 8-week CR program whether in-person or remote model (p < 0.05). The CAD patients receiving remote delivery showed lower anxiety and depression scores compared to those receiving in-person delivery at the end of the 8-week CR program (p < 0.05). It was found that the family burden scores of CAD patients undergoing PCI were reduced after 8-week and 12-week CR program whether in-person or remote model (p < 0.05). The CAD patients receiving remote CR program showed lower family burden scores than those receiving in-person CR program after whether 8 weeks or 12 weeks (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These data indicate that a properly designed and monitored remote delivery represents a feasible and safe model for low-to-moderate-risk, stable CAD patients undergoing PCI inaccessible to in-person CR during the COVID-19 pandemic.