Healthrelated Quality of Life and Experiences of a Heart Rehabilitation Programme After Care for Infective Endocarditis.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but severe infectious disease of the heart. Patients with IE are treated for weeks in the hospital and have profound impairments of health for a long time after the treatment. Patients experience a delayed recovery after discharge both physically, with wasting and fatigue; and mentally, with anxiety and depression. Patients suffer from a diminished quality of life and have difficulties returning to work, up to a year post-discharge. Little is known about how patients perceive the IE disease after discharge and if patient's health can be promoted by rehabilitation since no studies have been able to evaluate the effect of interventions aimed at relieving these problems. Aspects of quality of life, mental health, self-rated health and the impact on anxiety and depression will be studied.The hypothesis is that physical exercise training within cardiac rehabilitation can improve physical capacity and reduce symptoms of fatigue. Both the patients' self-reported experiences of symptoms of fatigue and other aspects of health-related quality of life by surveys, as well as the physical improvements for 1 year after IE ( by physiotherapeutic testing) will be studied. The patients are also interviewed on expectations and experiences of the intervention and what the patients think is the optimal strategy to regain health. A mixed methods design is chosen to include both quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate the intervention. Surveys on health-related quality of life, symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, depression, and occupational balance are digitally distributed at 4 occasions during 1 year after IE. Qualitative interviews will be used 3 times the first year to evaluate the effect and meaning of the program on health and well-being. Individualized center-based evaluations according to the protocols are performed before and after the rehabilitation period. Exercises and training are performed in groups led by specialized physiotherapists 2 times per week for 12 weeks. The investigators aim to study the intervention of physical exercise training within cardiac rehabilitation on the group of patients with IE. The patients with IE will be offered physical exercise training within cardiac rehabilitation according to the protocols of SEPHIA (Secondary Prevention after Heart Intensive Care Admission), as documented in SWEDEHEART(Swedish Web-system for Enhancement and Development of Evidence-based care in Heart disease Evaluated According to Recommended Therapies). 50 patients treated for IE will be included in the study.