Work

ITACARE-P cardiorehab registry: real-world data on quality and outcomes in heart failure and ischaemic heart disease – a prospective observational study protocol of the Italian early post-acute cardiac rehabilitation network

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction Rehospitalisation and mortality for heart failure and coronary artery disease remain high despite continuous acute-care improvements. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a cornerstone of post-acute care, integrating optimised therapy, exercise, education and psychosocial support within a multidisciplinary pathway, tailored to patient complexity and facilitating continuity between acute, post-acute and community care. Nevertheless, the number of referrals is low, describing the lack of alliance and common belief between acute and post-acute care. From this perspective, the Don Gnocchi Foundation along with the Italian Alliance for Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Prevention Association (ITACARE-P) has launched the CardioRehab Registry as a quality improvement initiative. Methods The ITACARE-P CardioRehab Registry is a prospective, multicentre observational cohort established to epidemiologically characterise CR management across Italy and evaluate its impact on a holistic profile of patient health following acute coronary artery disease or heart failure events. It aims to bridge the gap between acute care and long-term tertiary prevention. The Registry aims to support quality improvement through national standardisation of CR pathways and target patient outcomes (both functional as historically defined and clinically oriented to tertiary prevention using common metrics as in the acute setting). Moreover, the Registry is aligned to comparable data collection across European centres, enabling assessment of functional and clinical outcomes and adherence to guideline-recommended quality indicators. The Registry, using a REDCap-based case report form, covers demographic/psychosocial information, comorbidities, risk factors and acute-phase and CR complications. In addition, it explores patient-reported outcomes through the anxiety and depression domain (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7/Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and the quality-of-life domain (EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale and Heart-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire or Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire according to the index diagnosis). Ethics and dissemination This is an investigator-initiated, non-sponsored study. Ethical approval was granted by the Territorial Ethics Committee Lombardy 4 (CET 12–25). Informed consent will be obtained from each participant before enrolment. Findings will be disseminated through the ITACARE-P. Moreover, data will be delivered through open-access publications and academic conferences. Trial registration number NCT07094737.

Source: BMJ Open

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2026-123303