Key result
An 8-week home-based virtual reality exercise program significantly improved functional capacity compared with standard care in patients after open heart surgery (P=0.014).
Why the study?
Heart surgery impairs cardiorespiratory performance, prompting the need to explore the effects of virtual reality exercise during phase II cardiac rehabilitation on functional capacity, pulmonary function, and respiratory muscle strength.
Does an 8-week home-based virtual reality exercise program improve functional capacity and respiratory function in patients in phase II cardiac rehabilitation after open-heart surgery?
RCT (n=49)
randomized
Does an 8-week home-based virtual reality exercise program improve functional capacity and respiratory function in patients in phase II cardiac rehabilitation after open-heart surgery?
p-value: p=0.014
A home-based virtual reality exercise program significantly improved functional capacity compared to standard care in patients undergoing phase II cardiac rehabilitation after open-heart surgery.
Supports incorporating home-based VR exercise into phase II rehabilitation after open heart surgery; extends RCT evidence for virtual reality in cardiac recovery.
BACKGROUND Patients undergoing heart surgery demonstrate impaired cardiorespiratory performance. Phase II cardiac rehabilitation in people with open heart surgery aims to reduce the adverse physical effects of cardiovascular diseases. Virtual reality exercise is now used in cardiac rehabilitation OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the effects of virtual reality exercise on functional capacity, pulmonary function, and respiratory muscle strength in patients who underwent open-heart surgery and were in phase II cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS Forty-nine patients who underwent elective open heart surgery and were in phase II cardiac rehabilitation were randomized into a virtual reality group (N = 24) and a control group (N = 25). The virtual reality group completed 8 weeks of a home-based virtual reality exercise program, including chest trunk mobilization and aerobic circuit training for 30 minutes, whereas the control group completed standard care. Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted, and two-way mixed ANOVA was performed to compare between and within the groups. RESULTS After completing the 8-week program, the virtual reality group showed a significant improvement in functional capacity compared with the control group (66.29 ±25.84, p = .014). Inspiratory muscle strength was increased in both the virtual reality group and control group compared to baseline (9.46 ±2.85, and 9.64 ±2.78, respectively). In addition, after the 8-week intervention, significant improvements in expiratory muscle strength and forced expiratory volume in 1 second as a percentage of predicted were found in the virtual reality group compared with the baseline session. CONCLUSIONS TCTR20230602001A home-based virtual reality exercise program significantly improved functional capacity, but not respiratory muscle or pulmonary function, compared with the control. CLINICALTRIAL TCTR20230602001
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Sermsinsaithong et al. (2024) conducted an RCT in open heart surgery in phase II cardiac rehabilitation (n=49). home-based virtual reality exercise program vs. standard care was evaluated on functional capacity (p=0.014). An 8-week home-based virtual reality exercise program significantly improved functional capacity compared with standard care in patients after open heart surgery (P=0.014).
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