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Cardiac Rehabilitation Registries as Tools for Quality Improvement and Research : Insights From the SWEDEHEART-CR registry

Bäck, Maria ; Leosdottir, Margret LU ; James, Stefan and Hagström, Emil LU (2025) In Canadian Journal of Cardiology 41(12). p.68-74
Abstract

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a well established intervention for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction (MI), yet substantial variability in CR delivery and patient outcomes persists globally. This review provides an in-depth overview of the SWEDEHEART-CR registry, a comprehensive Swedish national quality registry that has facilitated continuous quality improvement and clinical research in secondary prevention since its inception in 2005. SWEDEHEART-CR now achieves full national coverage on the centre level, capturing detailed longitudinal data on patient risk factors, psychosocial outcomes, exercise capacity, and adherence to CR components for more than 8500 post-MI patients annually. We discuss how the registry’s validated... (More)

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a well established intervention for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction (MI), yet substantial variability in CR delivery and patient outcomes persists globally. This review provides an in-depth overview of the SWEDEHEART-CR registry, a comprehensive Swedish national quality registry that has facilitated continuous quality improvement and clinical research in secondary prevention since its inception in 2005. SWEDEHEART-CR now achieves full national coverage on the centre level, capturing detailed longitudinal data on patient risk factors, psychosocial outcomes, exercise capacity, and adherence to CR components for more than 8500 post-MI patients annually. We discuss how the registry’s validated quality index enables benchmarking and ongoing monitoring of care processes, highlighting substantial advances in cardiovascular risk management alongside enduring challenges. Furthermore, we highlight SWEDEHEART-CR’s role as a pioneering platform for registry-based randomised controlled trials, enabling pragmatic evaluations of novel rehabilitation interventions such as tele-rehabilitation. The review also addresses ongoing large-scale studies that use the registry to investigate physical activity patterns after MI and how to implement optimal CR processes and structures in everyday clinical care. Finally, we explore future opportunities for international collaboration through harmonised CR registries to advance quality improvement and embedded clinical research on a broader scale. The SWEDEHEART-CR registry exemplifies how high-quality registry data can enhance equitable, evidence-based delivery of care and inform clinical practice and policy to improve cardiovascular outcomes.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cardiac rehabilitation, myocardial infarction, quality of care, registry, secondary prevention
in
Canadian Journal of Cardiology
volume
41
issue
12
pages
68 - 74
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:41448729
  • scopus:105025537167
ISSN
0828-282X
DOI
10.1016/j.cjca.2025.09.039
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4832e4dd-a950-491e-a1cf-76ed6fa54f2d
date added to LUP
2026-02-12 13:51:18
date last changed
2026-02-12 13:52:26
@article{4832e4dd-a950-491e-a1cf-76ed6fa54f2d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a well established intervention for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction (MI), yet substantial variability in CR delivery and patient outcomes persists globally. This review provides an in-depth overview of the SWEDEHEART-CR registry, a comprehensive Swedish national quality registry that has facilitated continuous quality improvement and clinical research in secondary prevention since its inception in 2005. SWEDEHEART-CR now achieves full national coverage on the centre level, capturing detailed longitudinal data on patient risk factors, psychosocial outcomes, exercise capacity, and adherence to CR components for more than 8500 post-MI patients annually. We discuss how the registry’s validated quality index enables benchmarking and ongoing monitoring of care processes, highlighting substantial advances in cardiovascular risk management alongside enduring challenges. Furthermore, we highlight SWEDEHEART-CR’s role as a pioneering platform for registry-based randomised controlled trials, enabling pragmatic evaluations of novel rehabilitation interventions such as tele-rehabilitation. The review also addresses ongoing large-scale studies that use the registry to investigate physical activity patterns after MI and how to implement optimal CR processes and structures in everyday clinical care. Finally, we explore future opportunities for international collaboration through harmonised CR registries to advance quality improvement and embedded clinical research on a broader scale. The SWEDEHEART-CR registry exemplifies how high-quality registry data can enhance equitable, evidence-based delivery of care and inform clinical practice and policy to improve cardiovascular outcomes.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bäck, Maria and Leosdottir, Margret and James, Stefan and Hagström, Emil}},
  issn         = {{0828-282X}},
  keywords     = {{cardiac rehabilitation; myocardial infarction; quality of care; registry; secondary prevention}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{68--74}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Canadian Journal of Cardiology}},
  title        = {{Cardiac Rehabilitation Registries as Tools for Quality Improvement and Research : Insights From the SWEDEHEART-CR registry}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2025.09.039}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cjca.2025.09.039}},
  volume       = {{41}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}