Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) serves a wide range of ages. This presents challenges in addressing needs represented by extreme ends of the age continuum especially psychosocial.
Objective: To assess risk factors and psychosocial measures pre- and post-CR for the oldest (<=75 years) and youngest (<=50 years) participants.
Methods: Retrospective analysis (N=317; youngest, n = 192, 44.8 +/- 4.7 years; oldest, n = 125, 79.4 +/- 3.5 years) of risk factors, completion rates, pre-post Beck Depression Inventory Scores (BDI) and SF36 scores. Completion was defined as <=6 weeks CR with complete outcomes. Analysis was performed using t tests and chi-square test.
Results: The oldest group had a lower prevalence of obesity, smoking, and significantly lower BDI scores and higher SF 36 mental health (MH), general health (GH), and mental component scores (MCS) than youngest group. Oldest participants were more likely than youngest participants to complete CR. The youngest group had a lower prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and significantly better perception of physical health with higher SF36 physical function (PF), role physical (RP), and physical component scores (PCS).
Within-group comparisons showed significant improvement in BDI and all areas of the SF36 in both groups (P<.001). Between-group comparisons showed the youngest had significantly greater improvement in BDI and SF36 role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), GH, vitality, and PCS.
Conclusion: CR improves psychosocial outcomes for both the youngest and oldest participants. However, both entry risk factors and psychosocial evaluation reveal significant differences and potential areas for intervention between these groups to improve completion rates and outcomes.