Home-based exercise increased exercise capacity safely but did not improve quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure .
It could therefore be used to improve the management of people with chronic heart failure who do not have access to hospital-based exercise
QUESTIONS Does home-based exercise improve exercise capacity and quality of life in people with chronic heart failure ?
Is it safe ?
Effects of exercise training on heart rate recovery in patients with chronic heart failure.
BACKGROUND Heart rate recovery ( HRR ) is a marker of vagal tone that is associated with survival , but little is known about the effects of exercise training on HRR in patients with heart failure ( HF ) . METHODS Twenty-four patients with HF were r and omized to a 2-month residential rehabilitation program or to  usual care . Symptom-limited exercise testing was performed at baseline and at discharge from the program . Heart rate recovery was expressed as the decline in heart rate from peak exercise through 6 minutes into recovery . In addition , HRR recovery curves were normalized to a range of 1 at peak heart rate and 0 at 6 minutes and adjusted for differences in heart rate reserve , facilitating the comparison of recovery curve shapes between groups . RESULTS Mean peak oxygen uptake and oxygen uptake at the lactate threshold increased 26 % ( P < .05 ) and 39 % ( P < .001 ) , respectively , in the exercise group , whereas neither of these responses changed significantly among controls . Heart rate recovery was significantly more rapid in the exercise group after training ( main effect 12.6 vs 2.6 beat/min in the trained and control groups , respectively , P = .005 ) . The normalized curves showed that the largest improvement in recovery curve shape occurred in the exercise group , but most of the HRR improvement was accounted for by a widening of the difference between peak and resting heart rate . CONCLUSION Exercise training results in a faster HRR in patients with HF . Heart rate recovery , as a simple marker of autonomic function , is an easily acquired response that may be useful for evaluating patient outcomes in cardiac rehabilitation
Home-based exercise increased exercise capacity safely but did not improve quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure .
It could therefore be used to improve the management of people with chronic heart failure who do not have access to hospital-based exercise
QUESTIONS Does home-based exercise improve exercise capacity and quality of life in people with chronic heart failure ?
Is it safe ?