Reasons for Not Following Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs by Patients: A Case Study

Background: Cardiovascular diseases show high incidence and prevalence in Iran. However, participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation is limited and has been poorly investigated in the country. The aim of study was reasons for not following the cardiac rehabilitation programs by the patients in a Tehran city hospital. Methods: It is a quantitative and qualitative research in which information was collected through interviews with three groups of patients-physicians. In order to collect information from the patients, the questionnaire presented by Gabria et al. (2012) (33) on the reasons for not referring to the rehabilitation ward was used. Data were collected through a Cardiac Rehabilitation Barriers Scale. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS (version 18) software. Results: The mean age of patients in this study was 41-60 years old. Over all, 25patiens (84%) were male and (16%) were female. The most common reasons for not following the cardiac rehabilitation programs were, "Cardiac rehabilitation center is so far from my home "and "high cost the rehabilitation services". Conclusions: This study showed that the reasons for not following the rehabilitation programs were different and two of the most important reasons were the far distance and the high cost sessions.; Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize and encourage cardiac rehabilitation by education to patient.