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Review
. 2016 Oct 25:8:451-456.
doi: 10.2147/CLEP.S99502. eCollection 2016.

The Danish Cardiac Rehabilitation Database

Ann-Dorthe Zwisler  1 , Henriette Knold Rossau  1 , Anne Nakano  2 , Sussie Foghmar  3 , Regina Eichhorst  4 , Eva Prescott  5 , Charlotte Cerqueira  6 , Anne Merete Boas Soja  3 , Gunnar H Gislason  7 , Mogens Lytken Larsen  4 , Ulla Overgaard Andersen  8 , Ida Gustafsson  3 , Kristian K Thomsen  9 , Lene Boye Hansen  10 , Signe Hammer  11 , Lone Viggers  12 , Bo Christensen  13 , Birgitte Kvist  14 , Cecilie Lindström Egholm  15 , Ole May  16
Affiliations
Review

The Danish Cardiac Rehabilitation Database

Ann-Dorthe Zwisler et al. Clin Epidemiol. .

Abstract

Aim of database: The Danish Cardiac Rehabilitation Database (DHRD) aims to improve the quality of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to the benefit of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

Study population: Hospitalized patients with CHD with stenosis on coronary angiography treated with percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, or medication alone. Reporting is mandatory for all hospitals in Denmark delivering CR. The database was initially implemented in 2013 and was fully running from August 14, 2015, thus comprising data at a patient level from the latter date onward.

Main variables: Patient-level data are registered by clinicians at the time of entry to CR directly into an online system with simultaneous linkage to other central patient registers. Follow-up data are entered after 6 months. The main variables collected are related to key outcome and performance indicators of CR: referral and adherence, lifestyle, patient-related outcome measures, risk factor control, and medication. Program-level online data are collected every third year.

Descriptive data: Based on administrative data, approximately 14,000 patients with CHD are hospitalized at 35 hospitals annually, with 75% receiving one or more outpatient rehabilitation services by 2015. The database has not yet been running for a full year, which explains the use of approximations.

Conclusion: The DHRD is an online, national quality improvement database on CR, aimed at patients with CHD. Mandatory registration of data at both patient level as well as program level is done on the database. DHRD aims to systematically monitor the quality of CR over time, in order to improve the quality of CR throughout Denmark to benefit patients.

Keywords: cardiovascular prevention; clinical database; clinical quality registry; coronary heart disease; quality improvement; secondary prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Datasets and level of data collection. Note: Reprinted from J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev, 27(5), Thomas RJ, King M, Lui K, et al, AACVPR/ACC/AHA 2007 performance measures on cardiac rehabilitation for referral to and delivery of cardiac rehabilitation/secondary prevention services, 260–290, Copyright ©2007, with permission from Elsevier. Abbreviations: CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; CR, cardiac rehabilitation; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Quality of care continuum in cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention. Note: Zwisler AD, Bjarnason-Wehrens B, McGee H, et al. Eur J Prev Cardiol: 19(2). pp. 143–150, copyright ©2012 by SAGE Publications. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications, Ltd.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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