Ten thousand steps and more. The benefits of physical activity have long been known for cardiovascular diseases, both as a prevention and as a therapy. Its protective effects were also first observed in this area in the 1950s. And they are very significant: numerous studies show that a retraining program reduces the number of relapses of coronary heart disease by 20 to 30% and the number of heart attacks by 30%. Mortality of cardiovascular origin, according to Collective expertise from Inserm 2019 “Physical Activity: Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases”. A challenge that is even greater considering that these pathologies are the most common cause of death worldwide.
After a cardiovascular accident such as a myocardial infarction, with or without subsequent intervention (revascularization, bypass surgery, etc.), a rehabilitation program in a medical care and rehabilitation center (SMR) is recommended, in which physical activity (AP) is of central importance Meaning is element. But actually just “A quarter of eligible patients benefit from this stay”appreciates Alain Fuchs, President of the Azur Sport Santé association.
Specialists then recommend sessions of adapted physical activity (APA). In reality it’s not that simple. “Either the patient considers himself to be cured and sees no benefit, or the offer is chargeable and/or inadequate.”, notes Alain Fuchs. There are structures like those listed the French Association of Cardiology, which brings together 269 heart and health clubs.
Progressive autonomy
The idea of creating a bridging offer in the form of APA after rehabilitation came in 2015 from Stéphane Diagana, one of the co-founders of Azur Sport Santé. “We wanted to examine the impact on the health of these people and also on the economic level.”, explains the former athlete, who cares deeply about sports health. Forty-five people living in the Alpes-Maritimes and suffering from coronary heart disease, with an average age of 63, took part for five months.
“The study clearly demonstrated that an increasingly independent physical activity program led to better meeting attendance at five months and better quality of life at 12 months of follow-up.”noticed the article published in BMC cardiovascular diseases in 2018. At the economic level, participants in the program saw a reduction in health spending of 30% (or almost 1,300 euros per year).
Surely, “The weakness of the study is its small sample, recognizes Stéphane Diaganabut the magnitude of the decline in health spending encouraged us to initiate a second phase.”. VSThe program is called “Ace of Hearts.” “, was secondary introduced in the Social Security Financing Act (PLFSS) of 2018, allowing experimentation with innovative devices to improve patient care.
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