2.1 Search Strategy & Data Sources
The search used the next related terms: Population – CABG patients; Interventions –CRP; Comparators – routine standard care or treatment, which is usually drugs and general instruction; Outcomes – HRQoL and physiological variables.
First, in this study, a comprehensive search of electronic databases was conducted including PubMed, EBSCO host, Springer Link, Science direct, google scholar, and Medline from the year 2010-2021. Our search keywords were; coronary artery bypass graft or CABG, health-related quality of life OR HRQOL, physiological outcomes, cardiac rehabilitation program OR CRP, cardiac rehabilitation intervention, randomized control trial OR RCT, Experimental/interventional, and Quasi-experimental. (See Supplementary File. 2: Electronic search strategy).
The search was limited to adult populations, English language, inpatients and outpatient settings, but we omitted articles that involved CABG patients who are mentally incompetent, such as delirium, confusion, or anxiety disorders; and patients with the uncontrolled glycemic condition and metabolic disturbances, uncontrolled HTN, neurological or muscular disorders, and uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia (which can be detected from patients’ files), as patients with these conditions have more complications and these conditions itself affect HRQOL. Summary of the studies’ inclusion and exclusion criteria are in Table 1.