Clinical Rehabilitation

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mueller, L.
Right arrow Articles by Dubach, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mueller, L.
Right arrow Articles by Dubach, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 21, No. 10, 923-931 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0269215507079097

Exercise capacity, physical activity patterns and outcomes six years after cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart failure

Lionel Mueller

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Jonathan Myers

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland, drj993{at}aol.com

Wilhard Kottman

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Ulrike Oswald

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Claudia Boesch

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Nayana Arbrol

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Paul Dubach

Rehabilitation Center, Seewis, Cardiology Divisions, Kantonsspital Chur, Switzerland

Objective: To determine the short- and long-term effects of an intensive, concentrated rehabilitation programme in patients with chronic heart failure.

Design: Randomized controlled trial, with one-month and six-year evaluations. Setting: Residential rehabilitation centre in Switzerland.

Subjects: Fifty patients with chronic heart failure, randomized to exercise or control groups.

Interventions: A rehabilitation programme lasting one month, including educational sessions, a low-fat diet, and 2 hours of individually prescribed exercise daily.

Main measures: Exercise test responses, health outcomes and physical activity patterns.

Results: Peak Vo2 increased 21.4% in the exercise group during the rehabilitation programme (P<0.05), whereas peak Vo2 did not change among controls. After the six-year follow-up period, peak Vo2 was only slightly higher than that at baseline in the trained group (7%, NS), while peak Vo2 among controls was unchanged. During long-term follow-up, 9 and 12 patients died in the exercise and control groups, respectively (P = 0.63). At six years, physical activity patterns tended to be higher in the exercise group; the mean energy expenditure values over the last year were 2704 ± 1970 and 2085 ± 1522 kcal/week during recreational activities for the exercise and control groups, respectively. However, both groups were more active compared to energy expenditure prior to their cardiac event (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Six years after participation in a residential rehabilitation programme, patients with chronic heart failure had slightly better outcomes than control subjects, maintained exercise capacity and engaged in activities that exceed the minimal amount recommended by guidelines for cardiovascular health.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?