Exercise‐Based Cardiac Rehabilitation and All‐Cause Mortality Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence of long‐term impact of exercise‐based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on clinical end points for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We therefore compared 18‐month all‐cause mortality, hospitalization, stroke, and heart failure in patients with AF and an electronic medical record of exercise‐based CR to matched controls. METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective cohort study included patient data obtained on February 3, 2021 from a global federated health research network. Patients with AF undergoing exercise‐based CR were propensity‐score matched to patients with AF without exercise‐based CR by age, sex, race, comorbidities, cardiovascular procedures, and cardiovascular medication. We ascertained 18‐month incidence of all‐cause mortality, hospitalization, stroke, and heart failure. Of 1 366 422 patients with AF, 11 947 patients had an electronic medical record of exercise‐based CR within 6‐months of incident AF who were propensity‐score matched with 11 947 patients with AF without CR. Exercise‐based CR was associated with 68% lower odds of all‐cause mortality (odds ratio, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.29–0.35), 44% lower odds of rehospitalization (0.56; 95% CI, 0.53–0.59), and 16% lower odds of incident stroke (0.84; 95% CI, 0.72–0.99) compared with propensity‐score matched controls. No significant associations were shown for incident heart failure (0.93; 95% CI, 0.84–1.04). The beneficial association of exercise‐based CR on all‐cause mortality was independent of sex, older age, comorbidities, and AF subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise‐based CR among patients with incident AF was associated with lower odds of all‐cause mortality, rehospitalization, and incident stroke at 18‐month follow‐up, supporting the provision of exercise‐based CR for patients with AF.