Aerobic fitness and cardiovascular health profile two years after completion of cardiac rehabilitation
Authors
Padmore, StephenAdvisors
Buckley, John P.Publication Date
2011-09
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The aim of this dissertation was to evaluate the impact of a 12 week hospital-based phase III cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programme on long-term aerobic fitness and cardiovascular health two years after completion. Nineteen male and five female participants (mean age 65 years + 2 years) who had completed the CR programme, were randomly recruited to the study. 15 (63%) participants had a diagnosis of MI, 4 (17%) had undergone PCI and 5 (21%) had undergone CABG. The study was a repeated measures design. Participants performed three sub-maximal exercise tests (up to 75% HRmax and/or RPE 12/13) on a cycle ergometer to assess aerobic fitness (determined by work rate in watts and METs achieved) at baseline, end of CR and at two year follow-up. Secondary measures for cardiovascular health profile (including body anthropometrics, HADS score) were also examined. A one-way (Repeated Measures) ANOVA and the Friedman test examined differences at baseline, end of the programme and at two year follow-up. Compared to baseline aerobic fitness improved significantly at the end of CR (p = 0.0005) and at two years (p=0.0005). At two years there was no significant difference in work-rate (p=0.41) or METs achieved (p=0.63) compared to levels at the end of CR, indicating that participants maintained their aerobic fitness. The mean work-rate achieved by participants was 56.9 (+4.0) watts at baseline, 78.8 (+5.5) watts at the end of CR, and 76.8 (+5.2) watts at two years. Median METs achieved were 4.3 METs (IQR = 0.9) at baseline, 5.2 METs (IQR = 1.4) at the end of CR and 5.2 METs (IQR = 1.7) at two years. A 12 week CR programme can lead to positive health behaviours, an improvement in participant’s aerobic fitness and aspects of their cardiovascular health profile, which is maintained two years following completion.Publisher
University of ChesterType
Thesis or dissertationLanguage
enCollections
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