The effectiveness of individual rehabilitation on health status in patients with heart failure: a quasi-experimental study

Patients with heart failure (HF) live with a serious disease, and need long-term rehabilitation care. Elements in rehabilitation for patients with HF are based on the recommendations from the European Society of Cardiology and focuses on self-care and adherence in general. The aim of this study is to test the effect of individually prepared rehabilitation plans measured on health status (HS). The study design is quasi-experimental. Patients in the control group follow the conventional rehabilitation. For the patients in the intervention group. an individual rehabilitation plan was prepared and followed up by telephone after 4 and 12 weeks. For all patients, HS was measured with Short Form-36. One hundred sixty-two patients are included in the study, of which 137 (84.6%) consented. There were no differences in HS before and after the intervention. There are no significant differences by use of a systematically prepared intervention compared with usual care for patients with HF measured on HS 3 months after discharge from the outpatient clinic.