Background <p>This study aimed to explore the characteristics and population differences in caregivers’ perceptions of decision-making in elderly patients underwent post-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and to provide a reference for formulating targeted intervention plans.</p> Methods <p>A descriptive qualitative study method was adopted. Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit 24 caregivers of elderly patients after CABG from three tertiary hospitals in Shanghai for semi-structured interviews between May and July 2025. The interview data were analyzed by using the Colaizzi’s seven-step analysis method. The user label system was refined and summarized and the portrait was constructed. The user portrait was visualized in the form of Word Art word cloud map and character labels.</p> Results <p>A total of 24 eligible caregivers of patients underwent CABG participated in the study. The roles of the characters are constituted from six dimensions: decision-making cognition, psychological state, behavioral characteristics, social support, resource requirement and economic status, demonstrating the cognitive characteristics and group differences of caregivers regarding the decision-making process of cardiac rehabilitation. The types of characters constructed as follows: proactive caregivers, support-dependent caregivers, resource-constrained caregivers, and decision-making difficult caregivers.</p> Conclusion <p>In the decision-making process of cardiac rehabilitation for caregivers of elderly patients after CABG, based on the different manifestations of caregivers’ decision-making, clinical practice can provide decision-making assistance according to these characteristics to improve the decision-making ability of caregivers. This study constructed four caregiver roles through user profiling technology, providing a foundation for precise intervention plans.</p> Clinical trial number <p>Not applicable.</p>