Key result
A 12-week gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation program yielded similar improvements in estimated peak metabolic equivalents compared with a traditional program (P=0.159).
Why the study?
Does a 12-week gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation program improve exercise capacity and physiological outcomes more than a traditional program in women?
RCT (n=236)
Does a 12-week gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation program improve exercise capacity and physiological outcomes more than a traditional program in women?
p-value: p=0.159
A 12-week gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation program yielded similar improvements in exercise capacity and physiological parameters compared to a traditional program in women.
Similar exercise capacity gains with gender-specific versus traditional cardiac rehabilitation in women; challenges superiority of tailored programs and supports standard approaches.
In Brief PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to examine the improvements in physiological outcomes, including exercise capacity, in women completing a 12-week gender-specific (tailored) compared with a traditional cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program. METHODS: A 2-group randomized clinical trial compared symptom limited graded exercise test (SL-GXT), lipid, and anthropometric parameters among 99 women completing a traditional 12-week CR program with 137 women completing a tailored CR program. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, improvement in estimated peak metabolic equivalents (METs) was similar (P = .159) between the tailored (6.0 ± 2.7−7.6 ± 2.8) and the traditional CR programs (5.6 ± 2.3−7.1 ± 2.8). The amount of change in SL-GXT, anthropometric parameters, lipid profiles, and peak treadmill time from baseline to post-CR were also similar between the 2 groups. Given comparable improvements of the 2 CR programs, in the full cohort, factors independently associated with post-CR METs, in rank order, included baseline METs (part correlation = 0.44, P < .001), perceived physical functioning (0.24, P < .001), waist circumference (−0.10, P = .006), and age (−0.11, P = .004). Factors independently associated with post-CR treadmill time included baseline treadmill time (part correlation = 0.42, P < .001), perceived physical functioning (0.30, P < .001), waist circumference (−0.12, P = .002), and age (−0.10, P 5.006). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise capacity was significantly improved among women completing both CR programs. In the context of CR, modifiable factors positively associated with post-CR exercise capacity included reduced waist circumference and improved physical functioning. Future research on strategies for reducing abdominal obesity and improving perceived physical functioning and exercise capacity among women attending CR is warranted. This study examined the improvements in physiological outcomes in women completing a gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program compared with a traditional CR program. Exercise capacity was significantly improved among women completing both programs. Modifiable factors positively associated with post-CR exercise capacity included reduced waist circumference and improved perceived physical functioning.
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Beckie et al. (2013) conducted an RCT in Cardiac rehabilitation (n=236). Gender-specific (tailored) cardiac rehabilitation program vs. Traditional cardiac rehabilitation program was evaluated on Improvement in estimated peak metabolic equivalents (METs) (p=0.159). A 12-week gender-specific cardiac rehabilitation program yielded similar improvements in estimated peak metabolic equivalents compared with a traditional program (P=0.159).
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