Patient perspectives on barriers to participating in cardiac rehabilitation

Despite proven benefits, attendance at cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is poor worldwide. We aimed to describe patient perspectives on barriers to attend CR in Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted at cardiothoracic outpatient clinics of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka from May to July 2019. Post-cardiac surgery patients who were referred to CR but not attending them were recruited. 80 patients (male-51.3%, mean age 59.5±11.7 years) who were not attending CR were studied. 60% had to travel more than 50 km to attend CR. Main reasons for non-attendance were transportation difficulties (36%), non-availability of nearby CR centres (36%), unaware of being referred to CR due to communication lapses (35%) and lack of awareness of the importance of CR (31%). Therefore, providing clear information on cardiac rehabilitation, incorporating patient education programmes in cardiac surgery protocols and establishing new cardiac rehabilitation centres are recommended.