Standards for cardiac telerehabilitation

Martijn Scherrenberg^{1

2

3}, Maarten Falter^{2

3

4}, Ana Abreu^{5

6

7}, Suleman Aktaa⁸, Stefan Busnatu⁹, Ruben Casado-Arroyo¹⁰, Paul Dendale^{2

3}, Polychronis Dilaveris¹¹, Emanuela T Locati¹², Elena Marques-Sule¹³, Daniel Neunhaeuserer¹⁴, Roberto Pedretti^{15

16}, Francesco Perone¹⁷, Annett Salzwedel¹⁸, Matthias Wilhelm¹⁹, Maria Bäck^{20

21

22}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
² Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, UHasselt, Jessa Ziekenhuis, Stadsomvaart 11, Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
³ Heart Centre Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, Stadsomvaart 11, Hasselt 3500, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, KULeuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
⁵ Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria/Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁷ Exercise and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Laboratory, Centro Cardiovascular da Universidade de Lisboa (CCUL), Lisbon, Portugal.
⁸ Department of Cardiology, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, Bucharest, Romania.
¹⁰ Department of Cardiology, H.U.B.-Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1070, Belgium.
¹¹ First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹² Arrhythmology & Electrophysiology Department, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Milan, Italy.
¹³ Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia 46010, Spain.
¹⁴ Sports and Exercise Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
¹⁵ School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
¹⁶ Cardiovascular Department, IRCCS MultiMedica, Milano, Italy.
¹⁷ Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit, Rehabilitation Clinic 'Villa Delle Magnolie', Castel Morrone, Caserta, Italy.
¹⁸ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam 14476, Germany.
¹⁹ Centre for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²¹ Department of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²² Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.

PMID: 40742158
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf408

Standards for cardiac telerehabilitation

Martijn Scherrenberg et al. Eur Heart J. 2025.

. 2025 Oct 7;46(38):3714-3737.

doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf408.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
² Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, UHasselt, Jessa Ziekenhuis, Stadsomvaart 11, Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
³ Heart Centre Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, Stadsomvaart 11, Hasselt 3500, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, KULeuven, Herestraat 49, Leuven 3000, Belgium.
⁵ Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria/Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁷ Exercise and Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Laboratory, Centro Cardiovascular da Universidade de Lisboa (CCUL), Lisbon, Portugal.
⁸ Department of Cardiology, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila, Bucharest, Romania.
¹⁰ Department of Cardiology, H.U.B.-Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1070, Belgium.
¹¹ First Department of Cardiology, Hippokration Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
¹² Arrhythmology & Electrophysiology Department, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Milan, Italy.
¹³ Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Valencia 46010, Spain.
¹⁴ Sports and Exercise Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
¹⁵ School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
¹⁶ Cardiovascular Department, IRCCS MultiMedica, Milano, Italy.
¹⁷ Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit, Rehabilitation Clinic 'Villa Delle Magnolie', Castel Morrone, Caserta, Italy.
¹⁸ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam 14476, Germany.
¹⁹ Centre for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²¹ Department of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
²² Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.

PMID: 40742158
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf408

Abstract

Participation in comprehensive, multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation programmes as part of secondary prevention is recommended for patients with cardiovascular disease. However, recent data reveal that participation in cardiac rehabilitation is only around 30%-40% of eligible patients in Europe. Key barriers are practical barriers such as limitations in transport or scheduling issues. In recent years, home-based cardiac rehabilitation, delivered by telerehabilitation, has been suggested as an alternative or adjunct to centre-based cardiac rehabilitation to increase access, adherence, and participation rates. Multiple trials have demonstrated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of cardiac telerehabilitation. Recently, the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has defined the presence of a cardiac telerehabilitation programme as one of the quality indicators for centres requesting accreditation. This document aims to provide a clear description of cardiac telerehabilitation and to provide minimal standards and core components to ensure the high quality of cardiac telerehabilitation in Europe.

Keywords: Cardiac rehabilitation; Digital Health; Prevention; Telemonitoring; Telerehabilitation.

© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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Standards for cardiac telerehabilitation

Affiliations

Standards for cardiac telerehabilitation

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical