Facility-Based and Virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation in Young Patients with Heart Disease During the COVID-19 Era

This study assessed fitness improvements in young HD patients participating in both facility-based and virtual CR during the COVID-19 pandemic. This retrospective single-center cohort study included new patients who completed CR from March 2020 through July 2022. CR outcomes included physical, performance, and psychosocial measures. Comparison between serial testing was performed with a pairedt test with P  <  0.05 was considered significant. Data are reported as mean ± standard deviation. There were 47 patients (19 ± 7.3 years old; 49% male) who completed CR. Improvements were seen in peak oxygen consumption (VO2, 62.3  ± 16.1 v 71 ± 18.2% of predicted,p = 0.0007), 6-min walk (6 MW) distance (401 ± 163.8 v 480.7 ± 119.2 m,p =  <  0.0001), sit to stand (16.2 ± 4.9 v 22.1 ± 6.6 repetitions;p =  <  0.0001), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (5.9 ± 4.3 v 4.4 ± 4.2;p = 0.002), and Physical Component Score (39.9 ± 10.1 v 44.9 ± 8.8;p = 0.002). Facility-based CR enrollees were less likely to complete CR than virtual patients (60%, 33/55 v 80%, 12/15;p = 0.005). Increases in peak VO2 (60  ± 15.3 v 70.2 ± 17.8% of predicted;p = 0.002) were seen among those that completed facility-based CR; this was not observed in the virtual group. Both groups demonstrated improvement in 6 MW distance, sit-to-stand repetitions, and sit-and-reach distance. Completion of a CR...
Source: Pediatric Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research