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 .
A controlled trial of community based coronary rehabilitation.
Two hundred patients who had suffered an acute myocardial infa rct ion 4 - 6 weeks before entered a r and omised controlled trial of  exercise treatment  at a community sports centre supervised by a general practitioner . Eighty one per cent of the treatment group continued to exercise until they returned to work and 73 % completed three months ' exercise . There were no serious complications of the exercise course . The prevalence of angina pectoris fell by 10 % in the treatment group but rose by 60 % in the control group . The perceived energy level rose by significantly more in the treatment group than in the controls . The rise in predicted maximum oxygen uptake was significantly greater in the treatment group than in the control group as was the reduction in the double product ( a reflection of myocardial workload ) at peak exercise . Coronary rehabilitation in the community can be both safe and effective
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 .