Effect of home-based structured functional training on functional capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) is associated with increased hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an important approach to improve quality of life (QOL); however, postdischarge enrolment becomes difficult for supervised exercise programs because of related barriers of travel resulting in poor long-term adherence and participation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of home-based structured functional training program on the functional capacity and QOL in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction. METHODOLOGY: A prospective blinded randomized clinical trial enrolling 27 patients with HF planned for discharge from hospital. They were randomly allocated using lottery table to either control group (usual care) or interventional group (home-based structured functional training). Both groups received patient education on self-care for HF and Phase I CR as standard of care. Functional capacity using six-minute walk distance (6MWD) and QOL using WHOQOL BREF were evaluated post 6 weeks of intervention. RESULTS: Functional capacity improved by 25.91 ± 12.04 m in control and 70.79 ± 17.69 m in interventional group, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference ( P < 0. 05) in 6MWD between the groups following 6 weeks of HBsFT. The pre-post comparison of QOL in both the groups was found to be statistically significant for physical health ( P < 0.05) and psychological health domain ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Home-based structured functional training program (HBsFT) improves functional capacity and QOL in HF patients with reduced ejection fraction.