title: Home-based cardiac rehabilitation decreases red cell distribution width in chronic heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a measure of variation in the volume of circulating erythrocytes and has recently emerged as a powerful prognostic marker in heart failure. We studied the effect of 5-month, home-based cardiac rehabilitation on RDW.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-two patients (age: median 67 years, IQR 63-74) with chronic heart failure caused by reduced left ventricular systolic function were enrolled. Exercise time and physical activity levels out of the hospital were determined by a single-axial accelerometer. Baseline RDW values were: median 13.6, IQR 12.8-14.4%, with 13 patients (21.0%) showing values above the upper normal limit. RDW values were decreased significantly after training in the 13 patients with elevated baseline RDW values (P < 0.01), but not in the remaining 49 patients with normal baseline RDW values. There was a highly significant correlation between baseline RDW and changes in RDW after exercise training (P = 0.0001, r2 = 0.628, n = 62). The time spent for moderate (> 3 METs) exercise was: median 9.0, IQR 3.0-18.8 minutes per day.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Relatively low intensity, home-based cardiac rehabilitation was associated with decreased RDW in heart failure patients with abnormal RDW.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Cardiology, Kyushu Kosei-Nenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu, Japan. mmohri@qkn-hosp.jp
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohri
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Cardiology, Kyushu Kosei-Nenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Motohama
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Rehabilitation, Kyushu Kosei-Nenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index