Procedure

Patients meeting the inclusion criterion were enrolled by physiotherapists working at the cardiology clinic at Linköping University Hospital. The first author then contacted the patients by phone and provided further information about the study. If the patients were interested in participating, additional written information was sent by post and an appointment for the interview was booked. Face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in a secluded room at the cardiology department. An interview guide was developed with the emphasis on patients’ views of their ability to participate in and attitudes to exercise-based CR and their perceptions of the role of the physiotherapist in exercise-based CR. Please find the detailed interview guide as Additional file 1. The main topics supported the interview as overarching questions to start the dialogue. The follow-up questions were aimed to deepen the dialogue if necessary. The interview guide was tested in a pilot interview. No significant changes were made and the pilot interview was included in the analysis. The interviews lasted for a median of 45 minutes (range 32 to 73) and were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim.