Quality Performance Measures in Cardiac Rehabilitation Results of a Delphi Survey of Members of the German Society for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases (DGPR)

Objective The present investigation aimed an explorative acquisition of potential performance measures for quantifying the quality of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for patients under 65 years of age. Methods A 4-level web based Delphi survey of physicians, psychologists, and sports or physiotherapists in CR was conducted from April to July in 2016. The experts assessed several parameters of physical performance, social medicine, subjective health and cardiovascular risk factors regarding their suitability as performance measures of CR. Results Of the 44 predetermined as well as by the participants proposed parameters, 21 parameters (48 %) were selected as potential performance measures. Half of these were psychosocial factors. Merely, smoking habits, blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol and maximum capacity on exercise-ECG achieved a consensus (agreement > 75 % of the respondents). Conclusions The experts' choice of performance measures was little consistent. Therefore, a clinical investigation and scientific evaluation of the predefined parameters is essential.