Mandic, SandraBody, DianneBarclay, LeanneWalker, RobertNye, Edwin RGrace, SherryWilliams, Michael JA2021-03-292021-03-292015-07Community-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Maintenance Programs: Use and Effects Vol 24, issue 7, p 710-718, July 01, 20151443-9506https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2015.01.014http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38277Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) graduates are encouraged to attend maintenance programs to promote long-term physical activity and preserve gains in function. This study describes the characteristics, attendance and physical function of community-based maintenance CR participants, compared to primary prevention participants. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, participants from two programs in New Zealand completed an interview, anthropometry, functional assessments(walking tests, chair stand test, handgrip strength), a 12-month physical activity recall, and a cardiopulmonary exercise test (subsample only).Attendance was ascertained from club records. Results: Participants (n=56, 55.4% Secondary Prevention)attended 37.4±27.9% of sessions annually. Participants were predominately New Zealand-European(93.5%),retired (80.2%),married (68.3%) elderly individuals, with musculoskeletal problems (60.0%), who lived proximate to the clubs. In Secondary but not Primary Prevention participants, first-year attendance was strongly correlated with attendance in subsequent years (p<0.001). In all participants, greater attendance in the previous 12 months was significantly associated with lower waist circumference, and greater shuttle walk test duration, chair stands and balance (p<.05). Session attendance was positively correlated to peak oxygen consumption (p=0.041)in Secondary Prevention participants only. Conclusion: Participation in community-based CR maintenance programs is associated with health benefits but these programs are not accessed by a diversity of patients.enElsevier Journals © <2015>. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalcardiovascular diseasescardiac rehabilitationattendanceelderlyphysical functionphysical activityArticlehttps://www.heartlungcirc.org/issue/S1443-9506(15)X0009-6https://www.heartlungcirc.org/https://www.heartlungcirc.org/article/S1443-9506(15)00052-9/fulltext