Age-Related Differences in Physiologic and Psychosocial Outcomes After Cardiac Rehabilitation

Abstract

Age-related differences in various physiologic and psychosocial measures indicated greater improvement from an exercise-based supervised recovery-phase II cardiac rehabilitation outpatient program in middle-aged vs. older-aged patients. Older adults may derive equal mental or emotional benefit from such a cardiac rehabilitation program but do not experience as much improvement in physiologic outcomes as middle-aged adults.

Changes in Health Utility of Patients after Cardiac Surgery

“…Age-related differences in physiological outcomes such as muscle strength were investigated in a previous report [4]. Physiological outcomes were also previously reported after cardiac surgery in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and valve replacement [5][6][7][8].…”

“…Following discharge from the hospital, the patients entered the recovery phase II CR outpatient program at 1 month after cardiac surgery, and they continued in the program for 2 months, until 3 months after surgery [4,5]. The patients participated in supervised combined aerobic and resistance exercise training once or twice a week for 1 hour.…”

“…Each session was composed of a warm-up, aerobic exercise, resistance training, and cool down period. Exercise intensity during aerobic exercise was maintained at anaerobic threshold heart-rate level using treadmill walking or cycle ergometer with a rating of perceived exertion of [11][12][13] (according to the Borg 6-20 scale) [4,5,8].…”

Long-term effects of cardiac rehabilitation in elderly individuals with stable coronary artery disease

“…Physical function was assessed using a validated and standardized Short Physical Performance Battery [28], which consists of repeated chair stands, balance and gait speed tests with a summary score ranging from 0 (poor function) to 12 (excellent function). Handgrip strength [29] was assessed three times on each hand and the average of the highest value from each hand was used to calculate the handgrip strength index.…”

Effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation on cardiorespiratory fitness: A meta-analysis of UK studies

“…Improved fitness is associated with a myriad of physiological [3,12] and psychological [13,28] benefits for patients with CVD. Our aim was to systematically review and meta analyse the evidence regarding the effectiveness of UK CR programmes to improve fitness.…”