Effects of a Home-Based Rehabilitation Exercise Program on Cardiorespiratory Performance in Community-Dwelling Adults Who Underwent Heart Surgery: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Patients undergoing heart surgery demonstrate impaired cardiorespiratory performance. Phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in people undergoing open heart surgery (OHS) aims to reduce the adverse physical effects of cardiovascular diseases. Virtual reality (VR) exercise is now used in CR. Objective: This study aimed to explore the effects of VR exercise on functional capacity, pulmonary function, and respiratory muscle strength in patients who underwent OHS and were in phase II CR. Methods: Forty-nine patients who underwent elective OHS and were in phase II CR were randomized into a VR group (N=24) and a control group (N=25). The VR group completed 8 weeks of a home-based VR exercise program, including chest trunk mobilization and aerobic circuit training for 30 minutes, whereas the control group received an exercise brochure and information regarding the benefits of exercise. Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted, and 2-way mixed ANOVA was performed to compare between- and within-group differences in functional capacity and respiratory performance. Results: After completing the 8-week program, the VR group showed significant improvement in functional capacity compared to the control group (66.29, SD 25.84 m; P=.01). Inspiratory muscle strength increased in both the VR and control groups compared to baseline (9.46, SD 2.85 and 9.64, SD 2.78 cm H2O, respectively). In addition, after the 8-week intervention, significant improvements were found in expiratory muscle strength (15.79, SD 4.65 cm H2O) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percentage of predicted values (2.96%, SD 1.52%) in the VR group compared to the baseline session. Conclusions: The home-based VR exercise program significantly improved functional capacity but not respiratory muscle or pulmonary function.