Abstract
AIM: To assess the effectiveness of home-based cardiac rehabilitation (HBCR) in improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), compared to hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and usual care. METHODS: This systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines and included a comprehensive search across MEDLINE, CINAHL, ProQuest, Cochrane Library, Clinical Key, PubMed, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov up to June 2023. A total of 19 studies with 2822 participants were included. Eligible RCTs assessed the impact of HBCR on ACS patients, comparing it with hospital-based CR or usual care. The primary outcome was QoL, with secondary outcomes including cardiovascular capacity, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and rehospitalization rates. Statistical analysis was conducted using a random-effects model in R Statistic. RESULTS: HBCR improves QoL compared to all comparators (hospital-based CR and usual care) (SMD 0.17, 95 % CI 0.00 to 0.33). HBCR was equally effective as hospital-based CR in enhancing QoL, peak VO(2), 6-min walk distance (6 MWD), lipid profiles, and blood pressure. Compared to usual care, HBCR significantly improved QoL (SMD 0.29, 95 % CI 0.11 to 0.46) and HDL-cholesterol level (SMD 0.18, 95 % CI 0.02 to 0.34), while reducing triglyceride level more effectively (SMD -0.34, 95 % CI -0.57 to -0.11). However, no significant differences were observed between HBCR and usual care in terms of peak VO(2), rehospitalization rates, LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, or blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: HBCR significantly improves QoL and is equally effective as hospital-based CR across all measured outcomes. Compared to usual care, HBCR leads to significant improvements in specific aspects of QoL as a primary outcome, as well as in HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels. However, its impact on other outcomes, such as peak VO(2), LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and blood pressure, is not consistently significant.