THE EFFECTS OF A CARDIAC REHABILITATION PROGRAM ON HEALTH STATUS AMONG CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUPS AND BETWEEN GENDER GROUPS.
Contributors: Temple University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 154
Subjects: Education, Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) if participation in a cardiac rehabilitation program differentially affects health status among Jewish, Italian/American and Black men and women and (2) if participation in a cardiac rehabilitation program differentially affects males and females.

The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) was administered to 129 individuals with heart disease at four hospitals in the Philadelphia-South Jersey area. Forty-six of those individuals had entered a cardiac rehabilitation program while fifty-one individuals received routine care. Subsequently, 97 individuals completed the SIP again two to three months later. All 129 individuals were also assessed on various demographic variables. The 46 individuals who enrolled in a cardiac rehabilitation program comprised the treatment group and the 51 who received routine care comprised the comparison group.

An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) that compared the level of health status between the treatment group and the control group revealed a statistically significant greater improvement in health status among individuals receiving cardiac rehabilitation (F = 4.59, p $<$.01). ANCOVA was used to determine the differential effect of the cardiac rehabilitation program on health status in each of the three ethnic groups studied. While Jews and Italian/Americans showed improvement, Blacks were found to be statistically significantly lower than Jews and Italian/Americans on improvement in health status. Therefore, although there was a greater improvement in health status in the treatment group, Blacks did not improve as much as either Jews or Italian/Americans receiving cardiac rehabilitation. Also, there was a statistically significant improvement in health status among males over females in the study (F = 3.24, p $<$.05).

In conclusion, participation in a cardiac rehabilitation program resulted in an improvement in health status among ethnic individuals with Jews and Italian/Americans improving more than Blacks. Individuals in cardiac rehabilitation showed an improvement in health status over those individuals who received routine care. Males improved more than females in the cardiac rehabilitation program.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2120.

Thesis (PH.D.)--TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0225.