title: Home-based aerobic interval training improves peak oxygen uptake equal to residential cardiac rehabilitation: a randomized, controlled trial.
abstract: Aerobic capacity, measured as the peak oxygen uptake, is a strong predictor of survival in cardiac patients. Aerobic interval training (AIT), walking/running four times four minutes at 85-95% of peak heart rate, has proven to be effective in increasing peak oxygen uptake in coronary heart disease patients. As some patients do not attend organized rehabilitation programs, home-based exercise should be an alternative. We investigated whether AIT could be performed effectively at home, and compared the effects on peak oxygen uptake with that observed after a standard care, four-week residential rehabilitation. Thirty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery were randomized to residential rehabilitation or home-based AIT. At six months follow-up, peak oxygen uptake increased 4.6 (±2.7) and 3.9 (±3.6) mL·kg(-1) min(-1) (both p<0.005, non-significant between-group difference) after residential rehabilitation and AIT, respectively. Quality of life increased significantly in both groups, with no statistical significant difference between groups. We found no evidence for a different treatment effect between patients randomized to home-based AIT compared to patients attending organized rehabilitation (95% confidence interval -1.8, 3.5). AIT patients reported good adherence to exercise training. Even though these first data indicate positive effects of home-based AIT in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, more studies are needed to provide supporting evidence for the application of this rehabilitation strategy.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00363922.
authors: K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Trondheim, Norway. trine.moholdt@ntnu.no
authors: Trine
authors: T
authors: Moholdt
authors: Mona
authors: M
authors: Bekken Vold
authors: Jostein
authors: J
authors: Grimsmo
authors: Stig Arild
authors: SA
authors: Slørdahl
authors: Ulrik
authors: U
authors: Wisløff
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010349:Patient Compliance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome