Key result
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation did not significantly reduce all-cause mortality (HR 0.83) or hospitalisation compared to no-exercise control, but significantly improved exercise capacity and health-related quality of life.
Why the study?
Heart failure guidelines recommend exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation but do not differentiate recommendations according to patient subgroups.
Does exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improve mortality, hospitalisation, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure?
Population
3990 HF patients from 19 RCTs
Comparison
ExCR for at least 3 weeks vs no-exercise control
Design
Individual participant data meta-analysis of RCTs
Follow-up
6 months
Authors
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Strengthens ExCR recommendation across HF; confirms guidelines need not differentiate by subgroups.
Meta-Analysis (n=3,990)
Yes
Does exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improve mortality, hospitalisation, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure?
Hazard Ratio: 0.83 (95% CI 0.67–1.04)
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improves exercise capacity and quality of life in heart failure patients, but does not significantly reduce mortality or hospitalizations.
Walker et al. (2019) conducted a meta-analysis in chronic heart failure (n=3,990). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation vs. no-exercise control was evaluated on All-cause mortality (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.67-1.04). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation did not significantly reduce all-cause mortality (HR 0.83) or hospitalisation compared to no-exercise control, but significantly improved exercise capacity and health-related quality of life.
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