title: Cognitive impairment affects physical recovery of patients with heart failure undergoing intensive cardiac rehabilitation.
abstract: Purpose. To determine whether the presence of cognitive impairment (CI) affects physical recovery of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP). Methods. We enrolled 80 CHF patients (M/F = 53/27). CI was evaluated by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), exercise tolerance was evaluated by six-minute walking test (6 mwt). All patients underwent a 6-week CRP program at 50-70% of maximal V(O2). Patients were divided into two groups according to their MMSE (group 1: 16-23; group 2: 24-30). Results. MMSE resulted directly related to ejection fraction (r = 0.42; P = 0.03), and it was inversely related to creatinine (r = -0.36; P = 0.04). At 6 week group 1 had a lower increase in distance walked at 6 MWT than group 2 (P = 0.008). At multivariate logistic regression MMSE 16-23 predicted a reduced exercise recovery in the overall population (OR = 1.84; 95% CI = 1.50-2.18) and in women (OR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.22-1.75), while it was not predicted in males. Conclusions. CI is a marker of advanced CHF and is an independent predictor of lower exercise recovery after CRP.
authors: Cardiovascular Research Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, IRCCS San Raffaele, Via della Pisana 235, 00163 Rome, Italy.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: Caminiti
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Ranghi
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: De Benedetti
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Battaglia
authors: Arianna
authors: A
authors: Arisi
authors: Alessio
authors: A
authors: Franchini
authors: Fabiana
authors: F
authors: Facchini
authors: Veronica
authors: V
authors: Cioffi
authors: Maurizio
authors: M
authors: Volterrani