Socioeconomic and Clinical Factors Associated with Disease-Related Knowledge of Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients in Brazil

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with disease-related knowledge of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients. Methods: Adults with coronary artery disease (CAD) were recruited during CR Phase 1 and completed questionnaires on the 1st day of Phase 2. Disease-related knowledge was assessed by the short version of the CAD Education Questionnaire. Socioeconomic status was defined by educational level, family income, and employment status. MannWhitney U and Spearman correlation were calculated to determine the association of knowledge with socioeconomic factors, number of risk factors, and wait time between hospital discharge and start of outpatient CR. Results: A convenience sample of 39 patients were recruited. Overall, the mean knowledge was 12.00 ± 3.3, which corresponds to 60% of possible scores. Monthly family income and number of risk factors influenced medical condition knowledge (P < 0.05), and employment status influenced total knowledge (P = 0.005) and risk factor knowledge (P = 0.002). Participants with three or more risk factors presented significantly higher knowledge (P = 0.02). Those that waited more than 17 weeks to start the CR presented significantly lower knowledge (P = 0.04). Conclusion: Participants with low income and unemployed were more likely to have inadequate disease-related knowledge; however, the entire sample presented low understanding of their condition. Public health strategies and educational interventions must continue to focus on these vulnerable groups.