Almoghairi Ahmed Mohammed, O'Brien Jane, Doubrovsky Anna, Duff Jed
College of Nursing, Shaqra University, Saudi Arabia.
School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
PLoS One. 2025 May 16;20(5):e0323694. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323694. eCollection 2025.
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an effective secondary prevention intervention, yet it is globally underutilized. Physicians play a key role in CR uptake by eligible patients through encouragement and referral to the program. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning CR among cardiologists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), identified barriers to patient referrals to CR programs, and proposed strategies to increase service adoption.
We conducted an observational cross-sectional study in which an online questionnaire was distributed via email to cardiologists and cardiology fellows during the Saudi Heart Association's annual conference in October 2023 and through social media platforms. Participants were required to have at least six months of clinical practice in managing patients, including those with coronary heart disease (CHD) following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Of the 140 cardiologists surveyed, 106 completed more than 95% of the questionnaires. The cohort, which was primarily male (88.7%), included 67% consulting cardiologists, 15.1% fellows, and 17.9% specialists in areas such as general cardiology (29.2%), interventional cardiology (21.7%), and echocardiography (20.8%). Major barriers included a lack of local CR services (72.6%) and inadequate referral systems (41.5%). Despite the challenges and mixed views on the effectiveness of CR in KSA, attitudes toward CR were largely positive. The knowledge scores averaged 7.97, indicating a moderate to high understanding of CR services and benefits. Referral practices vary widely and are influenced by demographic and workplace factors, mainly geographic location.
While cardiologists in KSA generally have reasonable knowledge of CR and its benefits, substantial barriers hinder its broader implementation. There is enthusiasm for adopting diverse CR models; thus, further research is necessary to explore and evaluate alternative CR approaches, including home-based CR and telerehabilitation, to enhance patient care.
心脏康复（CR）是一种有效的二级预防干预措施，但在全球范围内未得到充分利用。医生在鼓励符合条件的患者接受CR并将其转诊至该项目方面发挥着关键作用。本研究评估了沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）心脏病专家对CR的知识、态度和实践，确定了患者转诊至CR项目的障碍，并提出了提高服务采用率的策略。
我们进行了一项观察性横断面研究，通过电子邮件在2023年10月沙特心脏协会年度会议期间以及通过社交媒体平台向心脏病专家和心脏病学研究员分发在线问卷。参与者须在管理患者（包括经皮冠状动脉介入治疗（PCI）后的冠心病（CHD）患者）方面有至少六个月的临床实践经验。
在接受调查的140名心脏病专家中，106名完成了超过95%的问卷。该队列主要为男性（88.7%），包括67%的咨询心脏病专家、15.1%的研究员以及17.9%的普通心脏病学（29.2%）、介入心脏病学（21.7%）和超声心动图（20.8%）等领域的专家。主要障碍包括缺乏当地的CR服务（72.6%）和转诊系统不完善（41.5%）。尽管在KSA对CR的有效性存在挑战和不同看法，但对CR的态度总体上是积极的。知识得分平均为7.97，表明对CR服务和益处有中度到高度的了解。转诊实践差异很大，受人口统计学和工作场所因素（主要是地理位置）的影响。
虽然KSA的心脏病专家对CR及其益处总体上有合理的了解，但重大障碍阻碍了其更广泛的实施。对于采用多种CR模式有热情；因此，有必要进一步研究以探索和评估替代的CR方法，包括居家CR和远程康复，以改善患者护理。
