The Age Factor in Cardiac Rehabilitation

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major global cause of death, and its risk increases with age. This study investigates the relationship between age, patient characteristics, and rehabilitation outcomes in the cardiac rehabilitation (CR) of CAD. A cross-sectional study analyzed 60 medical records of post-coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients who underwent a 6-week CR program after a graded exercise test using the Modified Bruce Protocol. The CR consists of 90% male participants, with an average age of 59.25 ± 6.69 years and an overweight body mass index. CR increases metabolic equivalents in all subjects, while age has a weakly significant negative correlation with the result of CR, so it can be concluded that CR is advantageous for older post-CABG or post-PCI patients.