Cardiac rehabilitation in people with peripheral arterial disease: A higher risk population that benefits from completion

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is common in people referred for cardiac rehabilitation (CR). However, the associations between PAD diagnosis and CR attendance and mortality remain to be defined. All patients referred to a 12-week exercise-based CR program were included. Associations between PAD diagnosis and starting CR as well as between PAD diagnosis and completing CR were measured using multivariable logistic regression. Associations between CR completion and mortality were measured using adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, and a propensity-based matching sensitivity analysis was performed. 23,215 patients (mean age 61.3 years; 21.6% female) were referred to CR; 1366 (5.9%) had PAD. Those with PAD were less likely to start CR (57.0% vs 68.2%, adjusted OR 0.81, 95%CI 0.72, 0.91) and complete CR if they started (70.6% vs 76.7%, adjusted OR 0.80, 95%CI 0.68, 0.94). Patients with PAD completing CR had lower exercise capacity at baseline (6.6 vs. 7.6 METs, p