What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cohort. Population: Long COVID combined with coronary heart disease (n=89). Intervention: Cardiac rehabilitation vs. Pre-treatment baseline (and non-CHD long COVID cohort). Primary outcome: 6-minute walk test (6-MWT) distance in CHD patients at 3 months (p=0.009).

What does this research mean for the field?

Cardiac rehabilitation significantly improves physical capacity, sleep quality, and psychological well-being at 3 months in patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

July 24, 2025Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine1 citationsOpen Access

Therapeutic effect of cardiac rehabilitation on patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease: a retrospective study

HDHui DuShanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine XDXia DuHarbin University of Science and Technology XLXinyu LeiXi'an University of Science and Technology

Key Result

Cardiac rehabilitation significantly increased 6-minute walk test distance from 390.81m to 405.33m (p=0.009) and improved sleep and psychological scores at 3 months in long COVID patients with coronary heart disease.

Study Design

Type

Cohort (n=89)

Multicenter

Structured PICO

Does cardiac rehabilitation improve functional capacity and psychological symptoms in patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease?

Population

89 patients with long COVID (reported post COVID-19 cardiac symptoms persisting >3 months) and NYHA class ≤ III, divided into a coronary heart disease (CHD) group (n=23) and a non-CHD group (n=66).

Intervention

Cardiac rehabilitation consisting of low- and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (RPE 12-14), 40 minutes per session, 4 times per week for 2 weeks during hospitalization, with continued instruction and follow-up after discharge.

Comparator

Non-CHD patients with long COVID receiving the same cardiac rehabilitation protocol, as well as intra-group comparisons to pre-treatment baseline.

Outcome

Clinical indexes including maximum heart rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2) during exercise, 6-minute walk test (6-MWT), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Nicotine Dependence Detection Scale (FTND), and Depression Screening Scale (PHQ-9) at 3 months.surrogate

Cardiac rehabilitation effectively improves functional capacity, sleep quality, and psychological symptoms in patients with long COVID and coronary heart disease at 3 months.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 405.33% vs 390.81%

p-value: p=0.009

Limitations

Single-center study
Small sample size
Retrospective design rather than a randomized double-blind clinical trial
Imbalanced sample size between groups
Unadjusted baseline differences in patients

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods: This retrospective study included 89 patients with long COVID, who were divided into CHD group and non-CHD group. The clinical indexes such as maximum heart rate and oxygen saturation during cardiac rehabilitation were compared between the two groups of subjects. The 6-minute walk test (6-MWT), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Nicotine Dependence Detection Scale (FTND) and the Depression Screening Scale (PHQ-9) were administered to patients. The same measures were re-administered to the patients after 3 months to explore the long-term effects of cardiac rehabilitation therapy. Results: of the CHD group were significantly lower than those of the non-CHD group. The maximum heart rate, maximum systolic blood pressure, and 6-MWT were significantly lower before treatment than those at three months for both groups of patients. The PSQI, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and FTND scores were significantly higher before treatment than those at three months for both groups of patients. Comparison of differences between the two groups before and after treatment revealed that the CHD group had significantly worse cardiovascular measurements after SARS-CoV-2 infection than the non-CHD group. Conclusion: Patients with long COVID combined with CHD have more severe symptoms, especially for their cardiac function. Cardiac rehabilitation can effectively improve patients' symptoms, and has long-term effects.

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