Rehabilitation medicine as a practical approach in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases to reduce mortality, morbidity and improve the quality of life and the quality of health systems

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) represents a cardiology subspecialty that is devoted to the care of cardiac patients, early and long term after an acute event. CR, as a multidisciplinary care pathway, aims at improving both quality of life and prognosis through risk and prognostic stratification, clinical stabilization and optimization of therapy, management of comorbidities, treatment of disability, and the provision of sustained long-term preventive and rehabilitative services. The mission of CR has changed over time. From being centred on the acute phase, health care of cardiac patients is increasingly involving the long-term chronic phase.
Cardiac rehabilitation remains underutilized around the world despite proven benefits in reducing morbidity and mortality, multiple Class I, Level of Evidence: A guideline recommendations, and performance measures supporting its use. Less than one-quarter of eligible patients attend even 1 session of cardiac rehabilitation. However, the degree of this underutilization is not uniform across the world.
Cardiac rehabilitation programs are cost-effective for healthcare systems due to their ability to reduce hospital readmissions, improve patient outcomes, and potentially lower long-term healthcare costs. They achieve this by addressing various factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease and its complications, leading to improved quality of life and reduced burden on healthcare resources.

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