Employment Outcome among Cardiac Patients following Phase Two Intensive Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme in a Local Heart Centre in Malaysia

Chai, Chau Chung and Leong, Be Kim and Liew, Lin Kiat and Chow, Kok Cheow (2023) Employment Outcome among Cardiac Patients following Phase Two Intensive Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme in a Local Heart Centre in Malaysia. Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology, 30 (1). p. 20. ISSN 2790-6744

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Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is a crucial cause of morbidity and mortality in Malaysia, with impact on employment. Unemployment leads to both loss of productivity and increased socioeconomic burden to the society. There were limited local studies on employment outcome and barriers among cardiac patients in Malaysia. Objective: To study the employment outcome and barriers among cardiac patients following phase two intensive outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme (CRP) in Sarawak Heart Centre, Malaysia. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study from June 2021 to May 2022 to evaluate the employment outcome of 68 cardiac patients aged 18-64 years who were previously employed prior to cardiac event and completed phase two intensive outpatient CRP in Sarawak Heart Centre. The age group chosen was adopted from the definition of economically active population in Malaysia by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Following the completion of three-month phase two CRP, we evaluated the employment outcome and we asked the unemployed cardiac patients to identify reasons of unemployment with multiple responses allowed. Results: Demographic data showed that 94.1% (64 of 68) patients were male. Mean age of the patients was 50.9�8.2 years. 73.5% of the patients (50 of 68) had acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and 23.5% (18 of 68) had heart failure for the referral diagnosis. Employment rate during end of phase two CRP was 91.2% (62 of 68). There were 6 unemployed cardiac patients. All of the unemployed were previous blue-collar workers with 50% of them had primary and secondary education respectively. The top three reasons identified for unemployment were health conditions and cardiac symptoms (36.4%), unable to find suitable work (27.2%) and job stress (18.1%). Other unemployment reasons include family did not support employment (9.1%) and fear of losing disability benefits (9.1%). Most of the unemployed cardiac patients (83%) expressed desire for paid work, and 66.7% of the unemployed felt that they could perform paid work. Conclusion This study reported a high employment rate (91.2%) among cardiac patients following phase two intensive outpatient CRP. Reasons for unemployment identified can be managed with specialised vocational rehabilitation to further raise employment rate post cardiac event.

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