Dance therapy in patients with chronic heart failure: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To see whether dance therapy was more effective than conventional exercise in exercise capacity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with chronic heart failure.


METHODS
Systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, EMBASE, SPORT Scielo, CINAHL (from the earliest date available to August 2013) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), examining effects of dance therapy versus exercise and/or dance therapy versus control on exercise capacity (VO2peak), and quality-of-life (QOL) in chronic heart failure. Two reviewers selected studies independently. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) test.


RESULTS
Two studies met the study criteria (62 dance therapy patients, 60 exercise patients and 61 controls patients). The results suggested that dance therapy compared with control had a positive impact on peak VO2 and HRQOL. Dance therapy resulted in improvement in: peak VO2 peak weighted mean difference (4.86 95% CI: 2.81 to 6.91) and global HRQOL standardized mean differences (2.09 95% CI: 1.65 to 2.54). Non-significant difference in VO2 peak and HRQOL for participants in the exercise group compared with dance therapy. No serious adverse events were reported.


CONCLUSIONS
Dance therapy may improve peak VO2 and HRQOL in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and could be considered for inclusion in cardiac rehabilitation programmes.
Departamento de Biofunçāo, Curso de Fisioterapia da Universidade Federal da Bahia - UFBA, Programa de Pós Graduação em Medicina e Saúde - UFBA Salvador - BA, Brazil mansueto.neto@ufba.br.
Mansueto
M
Gomes Neto
Departamento de Fisioterapia da Universidade Federal de Sergipe -UFS, Aracaju - SE, Brazil.
Mayara Alves
MA
Menezes
Departamento de Fisioterapia da Universidade Federal de Sergipe -UFS, Aracaju - SE, Brazil.
Vitor
V
Oliveira Carvalho
D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003614:Dance Therapy; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Exercise tolerance; cardiac failure; dance; quality of life