Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com Introduction Ischaemic heart disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, closely related to the increase in cardiovascular risk factors and non-communicable diseases, which contributes significantly to morbidity and healthcare costs, making it a public health problem. 1,2 A secondary prevention measure is cardiac rehabilitation in patients with chronic ischaemic heart disease. 3 Cardiac rehabilitation includes several non-pharmacological interventions, which aim to limit the harmful physiological and psychological effects of cardiac diseases. The aforementioned allows the patient to return to daily life as fully and quickly as possible. 4 Cardiac rehabilitation includes physical training, health education, quality of life, cardiovascular risk management and psychological support. All these actions are individualised according to the needs of patients with heart disease. 5,6 There are three phases of cardiac rehabilitation. The first phase takes place in the hospital setting within the first 3 to 4 days after the cardiac event, implementing actions such as personal hygiene, subtle movements such as sitting up, movements within the hospital bed and breathing movements. 6,7 The second phase consists of physical preparation, which should be performed three times a week, depending on the cardiovascular risk stratification obtained. This includes aerobic exercise and dietary guidance, with monitoring of pulse and systemic blood pressure. It also considers the degree of exertion and mainly support for reintegration into working life. 8 The third phase is developed autonomously by the patient and involves increasing and maintaining functional capacity. It requires a perfect understanding of their disease, with emphasis on nutritional control and the biopsychosocial aspect. The duration of this last phase is lifelong, so monitoring and supervision must be carried out in conjunction with the multidisciplinary health team. 8 Despite the known benefits of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in the Mexican population, its study, dissemination, implementation and participation are limited. 9,10 Regardless of the documented benefits, cardiac rehabilitation remains an untapped resource due to many factors, including patient attitudes. 11,12 Probably the main problem in phase three of cardiac rehabilitation is the lack of knowledge about it. This leads to poor adherence to pharmacological treatment in subjects with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) in primary care units in Mexico, 13 low Int J Fam Commun Med. 2025;9(1):1‒4. 1 ©2025 Lopez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Level of knowledge in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in adults with chronic coronary artery disease in a family medicine unit in Mexico Volume 9 Issue 1 - 2025 1 Family Medicine Unit No. 64 “Tequesquinahuac”, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico, Mexico 2 Family Medicine Unit No.79, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico, Mexico 3 Auxiliary Medical Coordination of Health Research, Decentralized Administrative Operation Body, Mexico East, State of Mexico, Mexico 4 Family Medicine Unit No.96, Mexican Institute of Social Security, Tlalnepantla de Baz, State of Mexico, Mexico 5 Family Medicine Unit with Ambulatory Care Medical Unit No. 180, Mexican Social Security Institute, State of Mexico, Mexico 6 Family Medicine Unit No.58,” Las Margaritas”, Mexican Institute of Social Security, State of Mexico, Mexico Correspondence: Francisco Vargas Hernández, Clinical Coordinator of Health Education and Research, Family Medicine Unit No. 64 “Tequesquinahuac”, Mexican Social Security Institute, State of Mexico, Mexico, Tel +52 55 1406 2096 Received: February 27, 2025 | Published: March 12 2025 Abstract Introduction: Ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in the world and in Mexico. Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation is a non-pharmacological secondary prevention measure, whose application and study are limited in the Mexican population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the level of knowledge of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation in Mexican adults. Material and methods: An observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out in a family medicine unit in Mexico. Men and women aged 40 to 80 years old with chronic coronary heart disease were included. A sample calculation was made for a prevalence of n=240 adults. The Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire Short Version (CADE-Q SV) and a sociodemographic data questionnaire were used. The univariate analysis of qualitative variables was performed by frequencies and percentages. For quantitative variables, the type of distribution was determined by statistical test criteria (Kolmogorov-Smirnov, considering a p > 0.05) using median and interquartile ranges (IQR 25, 75). Results: Of a total of 240 participants, 72.2% were male, the median age was 69 years old and 93% had systemic arterial hypertension. 57.3% and 30.4% had a good and great level of knowledge of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation, respectively. Conclusions: The level of knowledge of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation is good in the study population, however, longitudinal studies with multivariate models are needed to determine the factors influencing the level of knowledge of cardiac rehabilitation. Keywords: cardiovascular disease, cardiac rehabilitation, ischaemic heart disease International Journal of Family & Community Medicine Research Article Open Access