An overall view of aerobic physical training for chronic heart failure patients: a review study

Abstract

One of adjuvant treatment modalities for improving physical capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure (HF) has been physical training. Objective: To update the knowledge on the effect of exercise training as an adjunct in the treatment of HF patients through a systematic review. Methods: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials was conducted using the electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAH and the Cochrane Library, searching over five years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). Included were trials with at least three months of follow-up and the assessment of the effects of exercise interventions as a rehabilitation program component for patients with HF. Results: Seven clinical trials were included with 4000 participants, predominantly with reduced ejection fraction (≤ 50%) and clinical class II and III by the New York Heart Association. The exercise program, as the independent variable, reduced the general and specific risk of hospitalization for heart failure and resulted in a clinically significant improvement in the patients' quality of life. Studies with univariate meta-regression analysis showed that these benefits were independent of the type, amount of exercise, and duration of follow-up. Conclusion: Within the limits of this review, it was possible to show that improvements in reducing hospitalizations and in health were related to quality of life based on the engagement of HF patients in supervised exercise programs and appear to be consistent in all patients, regardless of the program's features and can increase life expectancy.