Cardiac Rehabilitation Outcomes in Women With Chronic Heart Failure
- 1 March 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention
- Vol. 32 (2), 78-84
- https://doi.org/10.1097/hcr.0b013e3182460c4b
Abstract
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of morbidity in the industrialized world; both men and women are affected in significant numbers. However, women are underrepresented in heart failure literature, and there is limited evidence of their cardiac rehabilitation outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a cardiac rehabilitation program in female CHF patients. In a prospective cohort study, 60 female CHF subjects (median age, 59 years; median ejection fraction, 30%) were compared with 172 male CHF subjects (median age, 60 years; median ejection fraction, 27%), who completed an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program. Self-reported exercise levels and intensity, fitness (6-minute walk test [6MWT]), and depressed mood (Cardiac Depression Scale) were recorded and compared at admission and discharge. Questionnaires were also re-administered at patient review conducted 3 months postdischarge. Both female and male subjects made significant improvements in exercise levels (P < .05), exercise intensity (P < .001), fitness (P < .001), and mood (P < .001) during rehabilitation. Women showed significantly greater improvement in 6MWT results by discharge (P = .007) compared with men. At discharge, fewer women than men (78% vs 88%) reported exercising to adequate levels (≥ 150 minutes/week), but this had reversed at 3 months postdischarge. Women with heart failure demonstrate similar patterns of improvement during cardiac rehabilitation compared with men and, in fact, show greater improvements in fitness and longer term exercise levels. Low to moderate intensity cardiac rehabilitation is both safe and effective in this group.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Effects of Exercise Training on Health Status in Patients With Chronic Heart FailureJAMA, 2009
- Efficacy and Safety of Exercise Training in Patients With Chronic Heart FailureJAMA, 2009
- ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008: The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute and Chronic Heart Failure 2008 of the European Society of Cardiology. Developed in collaboration with the Heart Failure Association of the ESC (HFA) and endorsed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM)European Heart Journal, 2008
- Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2008 UpdateCirculation, 2008
- Short-Term Change in Distance Walked in 6 Min Is an Indicator of Outcome in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure in Clinical PracticeJournal of the American College of Cardiology, 2006
- Comparison of Morbidity in Women Versus Men With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection FractionThe American Journal of Cardiology, 2006
- Cardiac Rehabilitation Following Percutaneous Revascularization, Heart Transplant, Heart Valve Surgery, and for Chronic Heart FailureChest, 2003
- Heart Failure in WomenProgress in Cardiovascular Nursing, 2000
- Effects of short-term exercise training and activity restriction on functional capacity in patients with severe chronic congestive heart failureThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1996
- Compliance/adherence in health-related exercise.Health Psychology, 1982