Impact of Early Cardiac Rehabilitation on patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Prospective Observational Study

The effects of using Early Cardiac Rehabilitation in Intensive Coronary Care Units (ICCUs) are  unclear for patients being admitted after Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). There is scarcity of data on the effects which has inspired the objective of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of Early Cardiac Rehabilitation on patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction. This will be a Prospective Observational Study conducted on patients newly diagnosed with Acute Myocardial Infarction admitted in the Intensive Coronary Care Unit in the Department of Cardiology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. Patients will be screened and eligible patients would be recruited following the clearance from the Cardiologist. After a complete General Examination and NYHA Functional Classification, a protocol guide based cardiac rehabilitation plan will be implemented within seven days of their admission, monitored by the target heart rate readings calculated by using the Karvonen Formula and RPE readings noted using the Borg CR-10 Scale. Effectiveness would be assessed using the Exercise Testing (The 6-minute walk test), the Barthel Index Scores and Borg CR-10 Scale, noting any changes in the functional status. Additionally any symptoms of exercise induced ischemia and complications with the protocol would be recorded along with the hospital stay duration. A sample size of 133 has been considered for the study based on the prevalence of acute myocardial infarction.