Clinical question
How effective is exercise‐based cardiac rehabilitation on mortality, hospital admission and health‐related quality of life of people with heart failure?
Bottom line
There were important benefits of EBCR, including a probable reduction in the risk of overall hospital admissions in the short term, as well as the potential for reduction in HF admissions (low to moderate-quality evidence). These benefits appeared to be consistent across EBCR programme characteristics, including centre and home settings. The effect of EBCR on health‐related quality of life was uncertain due to very-low‐quality evidence. EBCR seemed to make little or no difference in all‐cause mortality in trials with follow‐up of less than 12 months.
Caveat
All studies included no formal exercise training as a comparator intervention. However, a wide range of comparators were seen across studies, including active intervention (ie, education, psychological intervention) or usual medical care alone.
Context
Chronic HF is a growing global health challenge. People with HF experience substantial burdens, including low exercise tolerance, poor health‐related quality of life, increased risk of mortality and hospital admission, and high healthcare costs.
Cochrane Systematic Review
Long L et al. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for adults with heart failure. Cochrane Reviews, 2019, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD003331. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003331.pub5. This review contains 44 studies involving 5783 participants.
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