Heart failure (HF) is a progressive condition impacts not only cardiac function but also respiratory, vascular and skeletal systems. Patients often endure shortness of breath (SOB) at rest or during exertion, coupled with fatigue, resulting in a significant reduction in functional and exercise capacity. This impairment affects their ability to carry out daily activities and decrease their overall health related quality of life (QOL).
This study aims to test the effectiveness of a hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation on functional capacity of heart failure patients.
Pre-post intervention experimental design METHODS: Thirteen HF patients underwent 18 weeks of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation program (CR). The CR program consisted of aerobic, strengthening, and respiratory muscle training. Functional and exercise capacity were measured pre and post CR using New York Heart Association Classification (NYHA), distance covered in 6-minute walk test (6MWT), rate of perceived exertion using Borg scale, and metabolic equivalent (METs). The analysis was conducted using dependent t test to evaluate pre-post outcome measures.
Thirteen participants completed 18 weeks of hospital-based CR program. The dependent t-test for NYHA revealed that there was a significant improvement after 18 weeks, t(12) = 6.743, p ˂ 0.001.The functional capacity measured by the distance covered in 6MWT was improved significantly after 18 weeks t(12) = -6.391, p ˂ 0.001 along with METs t(12) = -5.903, p ˂ 0.001 and Borg scale t(12) = 12.282, p ˂ 0.001.
This study showed that hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation can alleviate symptoms and improve functional capacity of heart failure patients. A longitudinal study is recommended to test whether these improvements will be maintained overtime.