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Fewer than half of eligible cardiovascular patients benefit from CR in most European countries. Deficits include absent or inadequate legislation, funding, professional guidelines and information systems in many countries. Priorities for improvement include promoting national laws and guidelines specific for CR and increasing both CR programme participation rates and CR infrastructure. The European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation can have an important coordinating role in sharing expertise among national CR-related agencies. Ultimately, such cooperation can accelerate CR delivery to the benefit of cardiac patients across Europe.

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Background Type D personality is an emerging risk factor in cardiovascular disease. We examined the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Type D Scale (DS14) and the impact of Type D on anxiety and depression in cardiac patients. Method Cardiac patients (n=707) completed the DS14, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. A subgroup (n = 318) also completed the DS14 at 3 or 12 weeks. Results The two-factor structure of the DS14 was confirmed; the subscales negative affectivity and social inhibition were shown to be valid, internally consistent (Cronbach's α=0.87/0.91; mean inter-item correlations= 0.49/0.59), and stable over 3 and 12 weeks (r=0.85/0.78; 0.83/0.79; ps<0.01). Type D was an independent associate of anxiety (β, 0.49; p<0.01) and depression (β, 0.47; p< 0.01) in univariable linear regression analysis and remained a significant independent associate of anxiety (β, 0.26; p< 0.01) and depression (β, 0.17; p < 0.01) in adjusted analyses. Conclusions The Danish DS14 was shown to be a valid and reliable measure associated with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression independent of sociodemographic and clinical risk factors. The DS14 may be used in research and clinical practice to identify high-risk patients.

Aims-To undertake an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis to assess the impact of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ExCR) in patients with heart failure (HF) on mortality and hospitalisation, and differential effects of ExCR according to patient characteristics: age, sex, ethnicity, New York Heart Association functional class, ischaemic aetiology, ejection fraction, and exercise capacity.Methods and results-Randomised trials of exercise training for at least 3weeks compared with no exercise control with 6-month follow-up or longer, providing IPD time to event on mortality or hospitalisation (all-cause or HF-specific). IPD were combined into a single dataset.We used Cox proportional hazards models to investigate the effect of ExCR and the interactions between ExCR and participant characteristics. We used both two-stage random effects and onestage fixed effect models. IPD were obtained from 18 trials including 3912 patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction. Compared to control, there was no statistically significant difference in pooled time to event estimates in favour of ExCR although confidence intervals (CIs) were wide [all-cause mortality: hazard ratio (HR) 0.83, 95% CI 0.67-1.04; HF-specific mortality: HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.49-1.46; all-cause hospitalisation: HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.76-1.06; and HF-specific hospitalisation: HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.72-1.35]. No strong evidence was found of differential intervention effects across patient characteristics. Conclusion-Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation did not have a significant effect on the risk of mortality and hospitalization in HF with reduced ejection fraction. However, uncertainty around effect estimates precludes drawing definitive conclusions.

Background The work of specialized palliative care (SPC) teams is often challenged by substantial amounts of time spent driving to and from patients’ homes and long distances between the patients and the hospitals. Objective Video consultations may be a solution for real-time SPC at home. The aim of this study was to explore the use of video consultations, experienced by patients and their relatives, as part of SPC at home. Methods This explorative and qualitative study included palliative care patients in different stages and relatives to use video consultations as a part of their SPC between October 2016 and March 2017. Data collection took place in the patients’ homes and consisted of participant observations followed by semistructured interviews. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients with the need for SPC, aged more than 18 years, who agreed to participate, and relatives wanting to participate in the video consultations. Data were analyzed with Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological methodology. Results A number of patients (n=11) and relatives (n=3) were included and, in total, 86 video consultations were conducted. Patients participating varied in time from 1 month to 6 months, and the number of video consultations per patient varied from 3 to 18. The use of video consultations led to a situation where patients, despite life-threatening illnesses and technical difficulties, took an active role. In addition, relatives were able to join on equal terms, which increased active involvement. The patients had different opinions on when to initiate the use of video consultations in SPC; it was experienced as optional at the initiating stage as well as the final stage of illness. If the video consultations included multiple participants from the SPC team, the use of video consultations could be difficult to complete without interruptions. Conclusions Video consultations in SPC for home-based patients are feasible and facilitate a strengthened involvement and communication between patients, relatives, and SPC team members.

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