Average and Interindividual Effects to a Comprehensive Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program

Background: To describe the average effects and the interindividual variability after a comprehensive outpatient cardiovascular rehabilitation (CCR) program using concurrent exercise training prescribed according to cardiovascular risk stratification on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), anthropometric/body composition, quality of life and emotional health in patients of four cardiovascular disease profiles. Methods: CRF, anthropometric/body composition, quality of life, and emotional health were measured before and after a CCR and analyzed in heart valve surgery (HVS), heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), post-acute myocardial infarction (post-AMI), and in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Twenty, twenty-four, and thirty-two exercise sessions were prescribed according to mild, moderate, and severe baseline cardiovascular risk, respectively. In addition to concurrent exercise training, nutritional counseling, psychological support, and lifestyle education programs were performed. Results: The main outcomes by delta changes comparisons (Δ) revealed no significant differences at anthropometric/body composition as ΔBody fat decreases (HVS Δ−1.1, HFrEF Δ−1.0, post-AMI Δ−1.4, CAD Δ−1.2 kg) and ΔSkeletal muscle mass increases (HVS Δ+1.4, HFrEF Δ+0.8, post-AMI Δ+0.9, CAD Δ+0.9 kg), and CRF performance as ΔVO2peak increases (HVS Δ+4.3, HFrEF Δ+4.8, post-AMI Δ+4.1, CAD Δ+5.1 mL/kg/min) outcomes among HVS, HFrEF, post-AMI, and CAD (p > 0.05). Secondary outcomes showed significant pre-post delta changes in METs (HVS Δ+1.8, HFrEF Δ+0.7, post-AMI Δ+1.4, CAD Δ+1.4), and maximal O₂pulse (HVS Δ+3.1, post-AMI Δ+2.1, CAD Δ+1.9). In addition, quality of life had a significant improvement in physical functioning (HVS Δ+17.0, HFrEF Δ+12.1, post-AMI Δ+9.8, CAD Δ+11.2), physical role (HVS Δ+28.4, HFrEF Δ+26.8, post-AMI Δ+25.6, CAD Δ+25.3), vitality (HVS Δ+18.4, HFrEF Δ+14.3, post-AMI Δ+14.2, CAD Δ+10.6) and social functioning (HVS Δ+20.4, HFrEF Δ+25.3, post-AMI Δ+20.4, CAD Δ+14.8) in all cardiovascular disease. For anxiety (HVS Δ−3.6, HFrEF Δ−2.3, post-AMI Δ−3.0, CAD Δ−3.1) and depression (HVS Δ−2.8, HFrEF Δ−3.4, post-AMI Δ−3.2, CAD Δ−2.3) significant changes were also observed. Conclusions: A CCR program that prescribes the number of exercise sessions using a cardiovascular risk stratification improves CRF, QoL, and emotional health, and the average results show a wide interindividual variability (~25% of non-responders) in this sample of four CVD profile of patients.