Trial design
We are conducting a single-center, randomized controlled trial comparing two groups of cardiac rehabilitation patients. The intervention group receives a cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation program. The control group receives the standard cardiac rehabilitation treatment provided at the study center. Participants are randomly assigned to cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation or standard cardiac rehabilitation after giving informed consent.The study has been registered on the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00029295). The items from the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set are available as Additional file 1. This paper contains the original study protocol. Any substantial modifications to the study protocol will be submitted to the Ethics Committee of the University of Lübeck for approval prior to implementation. These amendments will be documented in detail in the German Clinical Trials Register and described transparently in trial reports.The trial is investigator initiated, and the University of Lübeck is the primary sponsor of the trial. An advisory board incorporating researchers, physicians, and employees of Federal German Pension Insurance and the German Pension Insurance North accompanies the conduct of the study and meets once a year.