Conclusions Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is effective at reducing important clinical outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease .
While our analysis was constrained by the quality of included trials and missing information about intervention components , there appears to be little differential effect of variations in exercise intervention , particularly on mortality outcomes .
Background While the clinical benefits of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation are well established , there is extensive variation in the interventions used within these trials .
It is unknown whether variations in individual components of these exercise interventions provide different relative contributions to overall clinical outcomes .
This study aims to systematic ally examine the relationship between individual components of the exercise intervention in cardiac rehabilitation ( such as intensity and frequency ) and clinical outcomes for people with coronary heart disease .
Physiologic and related behavioral outcomes from the Women’s Lifestyle Heart Trial
The Women ’s Lifestyle Heart Trial was a small ( N=28 ) r and omized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a comprehensive lifestyle self-management program ( very low-fat vegetarian diet , stress-management training , exercise , group support , and smoking cessation ) on reduction of cardiovascular risk factors in postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease ( CHD ) . Women assigned to the treatment condition ( Prime Time ) participated in a week-long retreat followed by twice-weekly 4-hour meetings . Endpoints were program adherence ; changes in lipid profiles , body mass , blood pressure , hypolipidemic and antihypertensive medications ; and quality of life . Risk factor and psychosocial evaluations were conducted at baseline and at 4 , 12 , and 24 months . Repeated measures analyses of covariance revealed that the dietary , stress management , and physical activity changes made by intervention women were dramatic and lasting . There were significantly greater improvements in the Prime Time condition compared to the usual care control group on body mass , angina symptoms , and quality of life , and a tendency for a greater reduction in blood pressure-lowering medications . Similar patterns were seen in lipids , blood pressure , and lipid-lowering medications , but did not reach significance . These results demonstrate that postmenopausal CHD women can make lasting lifestyle changes , and that these changes may reduce the need for cardiac medications and improve CHD risk factors and quality of life
Conclusions Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is effective at reducing important clinical outcomes in patients with coronary heart disease .
While our analysis was constrained by the quality of included trials and missing information about intervention components , there appears to be little differential effect of variations in exercise intervention , particularly on mortality outcomes .
Background While the clinical benefits of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation are well established , there is extensive variation in the interventions used within these trials .
It is unknown whether variations in individual components of these exercise interventions provide different relative contributions to overall clinical outcomes .
This study aims to systematic ally examine the relationship between individual components of the exercise intervention in cardiac rehabilitation ( such as intensity and frequency ) and clinical outcomes for people with coronary heart disease .