Resistance training increased 6-minute walk distance compared to no training , but had no other benefits on cardiac function , exercise capacity , or quality of life if used alone or as an adjunct to aerobic training in people with chronic heart failure .
QUESTION Does resistance training , either alone or as an adjunct to aerobic training , improve cardiac function , exercise capacity and quality of life in people with chronic heart failure ?
Effects of exercise training on health status in patients with chronic heart failure: HF-ACTION randomized controlled trial.
CONTEXT Findings from previous studies of the effects of exercise training on  patient-reported health status  have been inconsistent . OBJECTIVE To test the effects of exercise training on health status among patients with heart failure . DESIGN , SETTING , AND PATIENTS Multicenter , r and omized controlled trial among 2331 medically stable out patients with heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction of 35 % or less . Patients were r and omized from April 2003 through February 2007 . INTERVENTIONS Usual care plus aerobic exercise training ( n = 1172 ) , consisting of 36 supervised sessions followed by home-based training , vs usual care alone ( n = 1159 ) . R and omization was stratified by heart failure etiology , which was a covariate in all models . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Question naire ( KCCQ ) overall summary scale and key subscales at baseline , every 3 months for 12 months , and annually thereafter for up to 4 years . The KCCQ is scored from 0 to 100 with higher scores corresponding to better health status . Treatment group effects were estimated using linear mixed models according to the intention-to-treat principle . RESULTS Median follow-up was 2.5 years . At 3 months , usual care plus exercise training led to greater improvement in the KCCQ overall summary score ( mean , 5.21 ; 95 % confidence interval , 4.42 to 6.00 ) compared with usual care alone ( 3.28 ; 95 % confidence interval , 2.48 to 4.09 ) . The additional 1.93-point increase ( 95 % confidence interval , 0.84 to 3.01 ) in the exercise training group was statistically significant ( P < .001 ) . After 3 months , there were no further significant changes in KCCQ score for either group ( P = .85 for the difference between slopes ) , result ing in a sustained , greater improvement overall for the exercise group ( P < .001 ) . Results were similar on the KCCQ subscales , and no subgroup interactions were detected . CONCLUSIONS Exercise training conferred modest but statistically significant improvements in self-reported health status compared with usual care without training . Improvements occurred early and persisted over time . TRIAL REGISTRATION clinical trials.gov Identifier : NCT00047437
Resistance training increased 6-minute walk distance compared to no training , but had no other benefits on cardiac function , exercise capacity , or quality of life if used alone or as an adjunct to aerobic training in people with chronic heart failure .
QUESTION Does resistance training , either alone or as an adjunct to aerobic training , improve cardiac function , exercise capacity and quality of life in people with chronic heart failure ?