Article

We aimed to identify patient characteristics and comorbidities that
correlate with the initial exercise capacity of cardiac rehabilitation (CR)
patients and to study the significance of patient characteristics, comorbidities
and training methods for training achievements and final fitness of CR patients.
METHODS: We studied 557 consecutive patients (51.7 +/- 6.9 years; 87.9% men)
admitted to a three-week in-patient CR. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX)
was performed at discharge. Exercise capacity (watts) at entry, gain in training
volume and final physical fitness (assessed by peak O2 utilization (VO2peak) were
analysed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models. RESULTS: Mean training
intensity was 90.7 +/- 9.7% of maximum heart rate (81% continuous/19% interval
training, 64% additional strength training). A total of 12.2 +/- 2.6 bicycle
exercise training sessions were performed. Increase of training volume by an
average of more than 100% was achieved (difference end/beginning of CR: 784 +/-
623 watts x min). In the multivariate model the gain in training volume was
significantly associated with smoking, age and exercise capacity at entry of CR.
The physical fitness level achieved at discharge from CR as assessed by VO2peak
was mainly dependent on age, but also on various factors related to training,
namely exercise capacity at entry, increase of training volume and training method. CONCLUSION: CR patients were trained in line with current guidelines with
moderate-to-high intensity and reached a considerable increase of their training
volume. The physical fitness level achieved at discharge from CR depended on
various factors associated with training, which supports the recommendation that
CR should be offered to all cardiac patients.
CI - (c) The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS