Design of a randomized controlled trial of comprehensive rehabilitation in patients with myocardial infarction, stabilized acute coronary syndrome, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting: Akershus Comprehensive Cardiac Rehabilitation Trial (the CORE Study)

OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the long-term effectiveness of a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation programme on quality of life and survival in patients with a large spectrum of cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting). 2. To establish the degree of correlation between expected improvement of health-related quality of life and improvement in physical function attributable to rehabilitation in the intervention group, in comparison with similar changes in the conventional care group. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled, parallel-group design (intervention/conventional care). SETTING: Akershus County, southeast of Oslo City, Norway. PARTICIPANTS: 500 patients, men and women, aged 40-85 years, who have sustained at least one of the above-mentioned cardiovascular diseases. INTERVENTIONS: 8 weeks of supervised, structured physical training of three periods of 20 min per week, targeting a heart rate of 60-70% of the individual's maximum; home-based physical exercise training with the same basic schedule as in the supervised period; quantification of patients' compliance with the exercise programme by the use of wristwatches, information stored in the watch memory being retrieved once a month during the 3-year follow-up period; and life-style modification with an emphasis on the cessation of smoking and on healthy nutrition and weight control.