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June 12, 2026European Journal of Preventive CardiologyOpen Access

Effects of a 3-month women-focused maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program on attendance and perceived barriers: preliminary results of an ongoing RCT

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Why the study?

Does a women-focused maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program improve exercise adherence and reduce perceived barriers in women compared to standard care?

Population

38 women enrolled in maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation

Comparison

6-month women-focused maintenance CR program vs Standard-care maintenance CR

Design

RCT, 1:1, single-blind

Follow-up

3 months (preliminary)

Authors

MPM Lemos PiresMBM BorgesGSG De Sa

Discussion

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Overview

May improve early attendance with women-tailored maintenance CR; extends gender-specific evidence but needs larger trials for durability.

Key Points

  • This study aims to evaluate the effects of a women-tailored maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program on exercise attendance and perceived barriers.
  • Ongoing single-blind randomized controlled trial comparing a women-focused maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program with standard-care maintenance CR.
  • Participants included women attending exercise sessions 2-3 times per week for 60 minutes, with assessments at 3 months.
  • Demographic data and perceived barriers were collected using questionnaires and analyzed with generalized estimating equations.
  • Among the 38 women, attendance was significantly higher in the women-tailored group during the first month (B=15.38, p=0.040) compared to standard care.
  • Standard care group showed significant declines in attendance during the second (B=-13.06, p<0.001) and third months (B=-11.45, p=0.014).
  • No significant intervention effect was found for perceived barriers across groups (p=0.284), but having a partner and attending phase II CR were linked to lower barriers.

Structured PICO

Does a women-focused maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program improve exercise adherence and reduce perceived barriers in women compared to standard care?

P
Population
38 women enrolled in maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation (preliminary results based on 20 women who completed 3-month assessments)
I
Intervention
6-month women-focused maintenance CR program (barrier-focused, individualized counselling and education)
C
Comparator
Standard-care maintenance CR (supervised exercise sessions, 2-3 times/week, 60 min)
O
Outcome
Adherence to exercise (sessions attended/predicted) and perceived barriers (CRBS questionnaire) at 3 monthspatient reported

A women-tailored maintenance cardiovascular rehabilitation program significantly improves attendance trajectories and mitigates the typical decline in participation over time.

Limitations

  • Preliminary results
  • Small sample size (20 out of 38 completed 3-month assessments)

Cite This Study

Pires et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a2bd1386550ea4541ffe93fhttps://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwag249.414
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