Cardiac Rehabilitation in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation exercise in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), particularly in terms of improving exercise tolerance and long-term prognosis. Methods: A total of 300 hospitalized patients diagnosed with CHF at Xining First People’s Hospital between January 2019 and December 2022 were enrolled. They were divided into two groups based on whether they underwent cardiac rehabilitation: the rehabilitation group and the control group. The patients in both groups received standard pharmacological therapy. However, the patients in the rehabilitation group also received structured cardiac exercise training three times per week based on individualized exercise prescriptions. The baseline data, including height, body mass index, age, sex, medical history, medication usage, liver and renal function, complete blood count, and echocardiographic findings, were recorded upon admission. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) was performed using the CS-200 Ergo-Spiro system to assess pre-intervention cardiopulmonary function, including measurements of peak oxygen uptake (PVO2), anaerobic threshold (AT), metabolic equivalents (METs), oxygen pulse (O2 pulse), and 6-min walk test (6MWT) parameters. The same assessments were repeated after 3 months of intervention, and the changes in cardiac function and CPET indicators were compared between the two groups. Results: The patients in the rehabilitation group displayed significantly greater improvements in cardiac function parameters compared with those in the control group. The patients in the rehabilitation group showed significantly greater improvements in CPET parameters (PVO2, AT, METs, and O2 pulse) and 6MWT distance (all [Formula: see text]). Conclusion: Cardiac rehabilitation exercise significantly enhanced cardiopulmonary function and exercise capacity in patients with CHF, demonstrating substantial clinical value in improving prognosis.