| Abstract
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Cardiac patients after an event, such as myocardial infarction (MI), coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABGs), and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), or/and heart transplant, commonly experience prolonged psychological depression following hospital discharge. This study was designed to investigate the effect of cardiac rehabilitation programs (CRPs) on the level of depression of cardiac patients. A three group, pre-, post-, and post-posttest, quasi-experimental study was designed to evaluate whether or not participating in 6-week (n = 31) or 12-week (n = 35) CRPs (experimental groups) affected the level of depression. Among the subjects, there were 113 cardiac patients, including 85 males and 28 females with the mean age of 64 (11.2) years. The CRPs were designed to enhance physical functioning, performance of activities of daily living, and educational information related to their condition. Levels of depression of patients were assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The experimental groups completed the GDS questionnaire on three separate occasions, pretest, posttest (after 6 weeks), and post-posttest (after 12 weeks). The level of depression increased for all groups, but it increased most for the patients in the control group (n = 47). A significant difference (F = 72.11, p < 0.001) was found in the scores on the GDS for all groups between the testing points (pretest, posttest, & post-posttest). Also, a significant interaction was found between the length of time cardiac patients participated in CRPs and the groups to which they belonged (F = 3.96, p < 0.004). However, no significant difference was found between the groups (F =.44, p =.644). Thus, CRPs appear to be effective in cardiac patients who participate in them by enhancing coping ability and tolerance to increasing levels of depression over a period of time.
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