Recorded presentation

Karen Peters, DrPH, Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, 1601 Parkview, Rockford, IL 61107, 815/395-5906, kpeters@uic.edu and Michael Glasser, PhD, Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, 1601 Parkview Ave, Rockford, IL 61107.

This paper reports on the results of a rehabilitation exercise program on self assessed pain and quality of life (QoL) in a rural population of older cardiac patients. A major objective is to understand the impact of a cardiac rehabilitation exercise program on health outcomes including self perception of pain and quality of life. Subjects are patients from a rural, family practice clinic and a rural hospital who have had angioplasty, stenting or coronary bypass grafting. The study uses a pre-post general health/QoL factor comparison. In addition, patients are asked to self assess their level of pain using standard pain measures such as the VAS. The RAND 12 HSI is also used to measure self perceived healt status, focusing on the degree of limitation of functioning in relation to physical and mental health. Cardiac patients opting to participate in the exercise program serve as their own controls for the pre-post pain and QoL assessments at baseline and at 12 weeks. Results indicate a positive impact of the program, greatest in overall health followed by physical health and mental health (p <.01). Community-based programs such as this potentially can be utilized in a cost-effective manner in rural practices and rual hospitals with limited post-cardiac event resources

Learning Objectives:

• Recongize the importance of assessing quality of life as an indicator of wellbeing
• Assess the strengths of providing community based exercise opportunties for older adults in rural areas
• Identify useful measures of self assessed perceptions of pain assessment and quality of life

Keywords: Quality of Life, Exercise

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation