BACKGROUND: Women's recovery following a myocardial infarction (MI) has not yet been studied in a thorough manner.

AIM: Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare women's self-reported behavioural and medical changes, both in those women who voluntarily participated and those women who did not participate in a cardiac rehabilitation programme (CRP).

METHODS: A non-randomised comparative study design, including pre- (baseline) and post-tests (1 and 4 years after), was implemented in 18 hospitals in Sweden. Consecutively chosen women suffering their first MI (N=240) completed a questionnaire regarding behavioural and medical factors.

RESULTS: At baseline, significant differences existed between the groups regarding time stress (increased in the CRP group) and hypertension (increased in the non-CRP group). The behavioural factors improved, irrespective of CRP participation or not, with the exception of time stress, which was consistently high in the CRP group both 1- and 4-years after the MI. Regarding the medical factors, the significant difference in hypertension disappeared after 1 year. Four years after the MI, the CRP group reported significantly less rehospitalisation and more interventive cardiology compared to the non-CRP group.

CONCLUSION: The women benefited from CRP participation in relation to medical factors, but not at all in relation to behavioural factors. Accordingly, randomised clinical trials are necessary to perform in order to determine the effects of a long-term individual-based supportive CRP, performed by well-educated healthcare professionals.