A community programme for rehabilitation and secondary prevention for patients with acute myocardial infarction as part of a comprehensive community programme for control of cardiovascular diseases (North Karelia Project).

The comprehensive community programme for the control of cardiovascular diseases in North Karelia includes a special subprogramme for the rehabilitation and secondary prevention among patients with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The target group of the programme were persons under the age of 65 who had an AMI according to the community-based AMI register and had survived the acute phase of the disease. The programme consisted of systematic long-term medical follow-up at an outpatient MI clinic and of decentralized local group-rehabilitation with special emphasis on secondary prevention. The main component of the programme were health education and submaximal physical exercise, aiming at the reduction of the known secondary risk factors and the improvement of the general well-being of the patients. The feasibility of this programme was good. During the five-year period from 1973 to 1977 a total of 1308 persons under the age of 65 survived an AMI. Out of these patients 515 visited the outpatient MI clinic and 575 took part in the rehabilitation groups. The participation rate in the rehabilitation groups in the whole community increased during the period from 24% to 63%. During the programme period there was a reduction in incidence of recurrent infarctions and new vocational invalidity pensions among the patients with AMI.