Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 15, Number 6 > Pp. 297-301

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RESEARCH Original articles

Home-based exercise rehabilitation with telemedicine following cardiac surgery

Simonetta Scalvini ^* , Emanuela Zanelli ^*, Laura Comini ^*, Margherita Dalla Tomba , Giovanni Troise  and Amerigo Giordano ^*

^* Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri IRCCS, Lumezzane, Brescia; Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero, Brescia, Italy

Correspondence: Dr Simonetta Scalvini, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Telemedicine Service, Via Giuseppe Mazzini 129, 25066 Lumezzane (Brescia), Italy (Fax: +39 030 825 3188; Email: simonetta.scalvini{at}fsm.it)

We evaluated the feasibility of a home-based rehabilitation programme, which was designed to resemble an in-hospital rehabilitation programme. Patients who underwent cardiac surgery (EuroSCORE 0–10) followed a one-month home rehabilitation programme supervised by a nurse-tutor and a physiotherapist. Physiotherapy was performed at home with calisthenic exercises and bicycle-ergometer tests. Patients transmitted the recorded ECGs by telephone to a service centre. They also performed a 6-minute walking test and filled in a satisfaction questionnaire at the end of the programme. A total of 47 patients were enrolled in the study. There were 3050 telephone calls, of which 3012 (99%) were scheduled and 38 were unscheduled. No further action was required in 95% of calls. There were 809 sessions for calisthenic exercises and 1039 for exercise training. There was a significant increase in the 6-minute walking test distance at the end of the programme compared to the baseline (404 m vs. 307 m, P < 0.001). Patient satisfaction, as measured in a questionnaire, was about 95% overall. This type of home rehabilitation using telemedicine appears to be worth implementing in selected categories of patients.

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