Current trends in reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors from around the world: focus on cardiac rehabilitation in Brazil.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Brazil. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a program composed of structured exercise training, comprehensive education and counseling to positively impact functional, psychological, social, and quality of life aspects in these patients. However, the delivery of formal CR programs is limited to major metropolitan centers in Brazil and does not exist in much of the national territory, specifically in the North and Northeast regions. Barriers to the inclusion of qualified patients are lack of referral by the health professionals, as well as transportation difficulties, low income, lack of insurance coverage, and low educational level. Government efforts to implement CR programs on a broader scale, to reach a larger portion of the CVD population, are imperative. Additional research must be focused on the assessment of CR referral and adherence patterns as well as the effectiveness of different CR delivery models.