March 3, 2026

The Current Status of Cardiac Rehabilitation in China: A Cross-sectional National Survey

Key Points

Cardiac rehabilitation services demonstrate limited access across various regions in China, impacting patient outcomes.
The survey highlights disparities in lifestyle interventions available for patients post-cardiac events, revealing significant gaps.

Structured PICO

Population

568 hospitals (347 secondary and 221 tertiary) across 31 provinces in mainland China

Outcome

National and regional availability of CR programs, operational models, staffing, equipment configuration, and perceived barriers to implementation

Cardiac rehabilitation availability in China is critically low nationwide (22.9%), highlighting a systemic shortage and significant disparities by hospital tier, region, and urban-rural location.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status of Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in China by assessing its national availability, program characteristics, and key barriers to implementation. DESIGN Cross-sectional nationwide survey. SETTING Secondary and tertiary hospitals across 31 provinces in mainland China. PARTICIPANTS Data were collected from 568 hospitals, including 347 secondary hospitals and 221 tertiary hospitals. INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES National and regional availability of CR programs, operational models, staffing, equipment configuration, and perceived barriers to implementation. RESULTS Only 22.9% of surveyed hospitals offered CR programs, with significant regional and hospital-level variations. Tertiary hospitals were more likely to provide CR than secondary hospitals. Regionally, the central region had the highest CR implementation rate (32.0%), followed by the eastern (22.5%) and western (16.3%) regions. Urban hospitals had greater CR availability (35.0%) than rural ones (13.8%). CR programs were predominantly managed by cardiology departments (65.4%), while only 13.8% had dedicated CR departments. Key barriers included limited equipment, insufficiently trained personnel, financial constraints, and low awareness among patients and healthcare providers. CONCLUSIONS The availability of CR in China is critically low nationwide, indicating a systemic national shortage rather than a problem confined to rural or western regions. Nonetheless, substantial disparities persist by hospital tier, region, and urban-rural location. These findings underscore the urgent need for national policies to address this widespread shortage, strengthen professional training, and increase funding. Expanding CR access is important for optimizing functional recovery and may contribute to reducing preventable non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality, mitigating the CVD burden, and achieving the goals of the 'Healthy China 2030' initiative.

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Cite This Study

Zhang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69a75d62c6e9836116a2763f https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2026.01.020

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