HE@RT.FIT – Sustainability of traditional and live-streaming exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation in low-risk patients with cardiovascular disease

In Portugal, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a public enemy by their incidence, being even more representative in regions with greater demographic aging and considerable territorial dispersion, such as the Alentejo region. Although the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in treating patients with CVD are extensively documented, the lack of formal CR programs compromises the fight against this public health problem. Remotely supervised CR is an increasingly used option and may also be an alternative to traditional programs. Therefore, it is imperative to provide patients with CVD in this region with an opportunity for rehabilitation through exercise. The main objective of the HE@RT.FIT project is to obtain the evidence base to improve, tailor, and optimize exercise-based CR programs regarding sustainable effectiveness, adherence, and satisfaction in low-risk patients with CVD. Thus, this project intends to answer two main questions: 1) Do the traditional exercise-based CR programs promote higher sustainability, effectiveness, adherence, and satisfaction than the live-streaming exercise-based CR programs in low-risk patients with CVD? 2) Do the intensity of exercise-based CR programs affect the sustainability, effectiveness, adherence, and satisfaction in low-risk patients with CVD.