Factors determining non-attendance at a cardiac rehabilitation programme following myocardial infarction

Aim. To identify factors contributing to patient non-attendance at an outpa tient cardiac rehabilitation programme following hospital admission for a f irst myocardial infarction. Methods. Consecutive patients admitted over a two year period to the Auckla nd or Green Lane Hospital Coronary Care Units for a first myocardial infarc tion were identified. All patients had been invited to attend the cardiac r ehabilitation programme during their admission. A questionnaire was mailed to all identified patients. Results. Overall 324 patients were identified with a mean age of 61 years, of whom 212 (65%) subsequently attended the cardiac rehabilitation programm e. 220 of the 324 patients (68%) responded to the questionnaire. Univariate analysis revealed that non-attenders were less well educated (p <0.05), mo re often from a lower socioeconomic status (p<0.05) and lived alone (p<0.05 ). Non-attendance and withdrawal from the programme were most frequently re lated to transport and inconvenient scheduling. Conclusions. Patients with less education, lower socioeconomic status and patients living alone were l ess likely to attend a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Provision of a tra nsport service and more flexible scheduling of the programme many improve a ttendance.