Considerations for Implementing a Low-Intensity, Home-Based Walking Program in Older Women with Diastolic Heart Failure

Most exercise studies have been conducted in younger, relatively healthy males with systolic heart failure using high-intensity exercise protocols. Age, greater illness comorbidity, and physiologic differences in diastolic heart failure make the use of high-intensity exercise in older women impractical and raises safety concerns. Because the physical symptoms of heart failure cause considerable functional impairment and are antecedents for a worsened quality of life, interventions that promote physical activity, rather than education and counseling alone, have the greatest potential for improving quality of life in older women with diastolic heart failure.