Effect of Hospital-based Cardiac Rehabilitation on Quality of Life and Physical Capacity in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients: 2 Years Follow Up

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on quality of life (QOL) and physical functions in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during 2 years of followup. Methods: All AMI patients referred to the Cardiac Health and Rehabilitation Center (CHRC) were informed about CR and followed for 2 years on an outpatient basis from July 2010 to December 2015. Patients who were divided into a CR group and non-CR group. All patients took home-based self-exercise as CR programs of CHRC and in addition, the CR group received hospital-based supervised exercise training three times a week for 2 months. Both groups were evaluated for physical capacity and QOL at baseline, after 2 months of exercise training, and at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years of follow-up. Results: The CR group showed significant improvements in physical functioning (PF), physical role functioning, bodily pain, vitality (VT), social role functioning, emotional role functioning, mental health, physical component summary (PCS), and mental component summary at all-time points compared to baseline. At 1 year of follow-up, the CR group displayed significantly greater PF, general health perceptions, VT, and PCS values than the non-CR group. Regarding physical capacity, the CR group exhibited significantly lower resting heart rate and significantly greater maximal oxygen consumption and metabolic equivalents than the non-CR group at 6 months of follow-up. Conclusion: Hospital-based CR was effective in promoting QOL and early improvement in exercise capacity in patients with AMI. Further, the improvement in QOL was maintained for up to 2 years.