• Project number: F 2354
• Institution: Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) / TU Dresden
• Status: Completed Project

Description:

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most important cause of mortality and morbidity in Western industrialised countries. Cardiac rehabilitation plays an important role in the overall clinical management of cardiac patients. Interventions adressing RTW could take place within, in addition to or independent of cardiac rehabilitation.

However, there are large variations between countries in what proportion of patients return to work following a myocardial infarction. Furthermore, it is not known how effective the various properties of cardiac rehabilitation programs are to enhance RTW for patients with coronary heart disease, nor how effective interventions provided by the occupational physician or other healthcare personnel are when there is no cardiac rehabilitation.

This Cochrane systematic review aims to assess the effects of interventions directed at patients with coronary heart disease or their environment, specifically their working environment, or combinations of the two, to enhance return-to-work.