Effectiveness of a Hospital-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program on Several Physiological Variables

People who suffer from a cardiac event can greatly benefit from cardiac rehabilitation (CR). However, CR services are underutilized13. To help increase participation rates, the effectiveness of a traditional hospital-based CR program was evaluated in terms of several important physiological variables. Methods: Community-dwelling adults, age ranging from 46 to 85 years (n=10), were asked to complete a hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation program, with several variables being assessed. At the first and final visits, participants were asked to complete a 6-minute walk test (6 MWT) with baseline measures of resting and exercise heart rates (HR); resting and exercise blood pressures (BP) were also measured. Results: Five of the 10 participants completed the program. A significant increase was found in the distance covered in the 6 MWT (pre =1116 ± 366.6 feet, post =1499 ± 482.0; p=0.021). In addition, a significant decrease was found in resting systolic BP (pre =152.8 ± 13.6 mmHg, post =139.6 ± 15.3; p=0.045). However, no differences were found in resting diastolic BP, or exercise BP and HR. Conclusion: Improvement in some, but not all, of the variables measured, shows that cardiac rehabilitation programs can be a valuable treatment to help improve the participants’ health. Improving cardiorespiratory endurance and blood pressure can decrease the risk of future cardiac events