Cardiac rehabilitation in women; comparison of enrollment, adherence and outcomes between heart failure and coronary artery disease

•Women with heart failure indication of CR were less likely to come to CR when compared to women with coronary artery disease.•Despite their lower baseline functional capacity, women with HF showed significant improvement in all the aspects of CR, with the exception of weight and mood.•Once enrolled in CR, women with HF were as likely to adhere and finish CR as women with coronary artery disease. There is paucity of data on cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment and outcomes in women with heart failure (HF). In this retrospective analysis, we compared enrollment, adherence and outcomes between women with HF versus coronary artery disease (CAD)-related indications referred to a university-affiliated CR program from June 2014–July 2018. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to adjust for imbalanced variables at baseline and baseline value of each outcome to compare change in outcomes between HF and CAD groups A total of 538 women (HF=63 vs CAD=475) were included in the study. At baseline, women with HF were younger, had lower attendance to CR intake and worse perceived health, higher AACVPR risk category and lower exercise capacity but had similar enrollment, weight and dieatry habits when compared to women with CAD. Adjusted analyses showed that almost all cardiac rehabilitation outcomes except for positive affect (anxiety, depression symptoms, negative affect, dietary habits, perceived physical and mental health summary scores, exercise duration and capacity) improved significantly from baseline and in a similar fashion in both groups. Weight loss was significantly greater for women with CAD versus those with HF (CAD: Δ -1.12 ± 2.23 kg versus HF: Δ -0.66 ± 2.78 kg, p = 0.03). Despite a lower attendance to CR intake, lower perceived physical health and higher baseline AACVPR risk in women with HF, they have similar CR enrollment, adherence and completion rates compared to women with CAD. Both groups showed significant but similar improvements from baseline in almost all cardiac rehabilitation outcomes. These findings should alert cardiology providers to help overcome obstacles for women with HF to attend CR intake.