Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the effect of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on cardiovascular events in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study in 189 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 30 mL/min/1.73 m(2) who were referred to our outpatient CR center. They were divided into two groups according to whether they participated in CR or not, and compared for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) incidences. RESULTS: There were 143 that participated in CR and 46 that did not. The cumulative MACE rates in the participation group were lower than in the non-participation group (48% vs. 61%, p = 0.015). The hazard ratio for all-cardiovascular events in the participation group as compared to the non-participation group after adjusting for confounders was 0.56 (95% CI, 0.35-0.89, p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: CR might reduce MACEs in patients with advanced CKD.