Impact of home-based, supervised exercise on congestive heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
Comparison of supervised home-based exercise program as adjunctive therapy, with comprehensive disease management alone, on symptoms and quality of life in congestive heart failure patients.


METHODS
8 women and 11 men were enrolled in a randomized trial. The mean subject age was 69 (±4.44) in the controls and 70 (±4.05) in the intervention group. Baseline and 3, 6, and 12-month evaluations consisted of the Chronic Heart Failure Questionnaire (CHFQ), measuring perceived functional capacity (perceived symptoms of dyspnea, fatigue, and emotional function) and the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YPAS). A stress test was given at baseline and 12 months.


CONCLUSIONS
The home-based exercise intervention caused a significant change in perceived fatigue between study groups (p=0.015), after 6 months of study participation, with the control group feeling less fatigued than the intervention group. After 12 months of participation, there were no significant differences in perceived functional capacity. Home-based exercise was well tolerated and favorably evaluated. This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of studying home-based exercise in patients with moderate congestive heart failure. Larger and longer studies will be required to determine treatment effects.
Yale Prevention Research Center, USA.
Hilary K
HK
Wall
Yale Prevention Research Center, USA.
Jennifer
J
Ballard
Yale Prevention Research Center, USA.
Philip
P
Troped
Yale Prevention Research Center, USA.
Valentine Yanchou
VY
Njike
Yale Prevention Research Center, USA; Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health Yale University School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: katzdl@pol.net.
David L
DL
Katz
D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016896:Treatment Outcome