A narrative review on home-based exercise training for patients with chronic heart failure

Objective: In view of the growing incidence of chronic heart failure (CHF) and its poor prognosis, there has been increasing interest in optimising management of people with this condition. Exercise has been widely accepted as part of the management plan for patients with CHF. Traditionally, exercise training for this group of patients has concentrated on supervised centre-based training. However, home-based training may offer an alternative to conventional training or a means of maintaining physical fitness after graduating from the centre-based training. This review was undertaken to examine the literature for home-based exercise training in patients with CHF. Methods: Literature searches were performed initially using electronic databases. The obtained papers were cross-referenced and appropriate articles were ordered through interlibrary loans. Results: A total of 21 relevant papers were identified for review. The majority of studies documented benefits with home-based training including increased exercise capacity, improved self-efficacy and increased muscle strength. Conclusions: Home-based exercise training has been shown to benefit people with CHF in the short term. Further research is required to investigate the long-term effects of home exercise and to determine the optimal strategies for improving exercise adherence in patients with CHF.