Description of Cardio-Met classifications

First used in the NICER clinical pilot, the Cardio-Met classification system involves two steps, as shown below. It is intended to help group cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients with similar pathology together, thereby allowing for better patient management and effective exercise prescription goal setting. The Cardio-Met classifications are used in the Aerobic Exercise Prescription Matrix (AEPM) and the Clinical Aerobic Periodisation (CAP) tools.

Figure-1

Using the Cardio-Met system

As can be seen in the figure above, applying the Cardio-Met classifications involves two basic steps:

  1. Selecting the most approriate category of primary CR presentation applicable to the pateint (i.e. the category which most closely matches their main reason for attending outpatient CR;
  2. Determining how many (if any) of the metabolic syndrome comorbidities the patient is also presenting with.

For a more detailed look at the rationale behind this system and it's components (including more discussion on the controversial definitions of metabolic syndrome used by researchers around the world), please see the the NICER-I research project, and in particular the Literature Review section.