What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Meta-Analysis. Population: coronary artery disease. Intervention: Exercise training vs. No exercise (usual care). Primary outcome: Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) with in-person exercise (SMD 0.51, 95% CI 0.28-0.74).

January 15, 2025Open Access

Exercise type and settings, quality of life, and mental health in coronary artery disease: a network meta-analysis

Key Result

In-person exercise training significantly improved health-related quality of life (SMD 0.51; 95% CI 0.28-0.74) compared with no exercise, whereas home-based programs showed no significant improvement.

Study Design

Type

Meta-Analysis

Structured PICO

Does exercise training of different types and settings improve health-related quality of life and mental health in patients with coronary artery disease?

Population

Patients with coronary artery disease (36 RCTs included in meta-analysis)

Intervention

Exercise training of various types (high-intensity interval training [HIIT], HIIT + resistance, moderate-intensity training [MIT], MIT + resistance, stretching-toning-balance) and settings (in-person, home-based)

Comparator

No exercise (usual care)

Outcome

Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), mental health (depression, anxiety), cognition, sleep, and brain structure/functionpatient reported

In-person exercise training significantly improves health-related quality of life, depression, and anxiety in patients with coronary artery disease, whereas home-based programs may lack effectiveness for these outcomes.

Main Result

Effect estimate: SMD 0.51 (95% CI 0.28-0.74)

Limitations

Few studies included cognition or sleep, and none evaluated brain structure/function.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Individuals with coronary artery disease have poorer mental health, health-related quality of life (HR-QoL), and cognition compared with (age-matched) controls. Exercise training may attenuate these effects. The aim is to systematically review and meta-analyse the effects of different exercise types and settings on brain structure/function, cognition, HR-QoL, mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety), and sleep in patients with coronary artery disease. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted and a network meta-analysis compared (i) exercise types, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), HIIT + resistance (HIIT + R), moderate-intensity training (MIT), MIT + R and stretching-toning-balance training, and (ii) exercise settings, in-person and home-based. RESULTS: A total of 42 randomized controlled trials with a parallel group design were identified, of which 36 were included in the meta-analysis. Few studies included cognition (n = 2), sleep (n = 2), and none brain structure/function (n = 0). Most studies examined HR-QoL (n = 30), depression (n = 15), and anxiety (n = 9), in which outcomes were meta-analysed. HIIT + R, HIIT, and MIT were associated with improved HR-QoL vs. no exercise (i.e. usual care) standardized mean difference, SMD: 1.53 (95% confidence interval 0.83; 2.24), 0.44 (0.15; 0.73), and 0.44 (0.20; 0.67), respectively. In-person exercise was associated with larger and significant improvements HR-QoL SMD: 0.51 (0.28; 0.74), depressive SMD: -0.55 (-1.03; -0.07), and anxiety symptoms SMD: -1.16 (-2.05; -0.26) compared with no exercise, whereas home-based programmes were not significantly associated with improvements in these outcomes. Findings were robust in secondary (i.e. intervention duration and volume) and sensitivity analyses excluding high risk of bias studies. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise training, especially in-person sessions, was associated with improved HR-QoL, depression and anxiety, independently of exercise type. However, this study raises concern about the effectiveness of home-based programmes in improving these outcomes.Study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42023402569).