[Cardiorehabilitation of patients with stable ischemic heart disease: compliance with treatment]

Abstract

Aim: To study correlation between compliance with treatment (attendance of training sessions) and clinical symptoms in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) in the course of 12-week program of physical training.

Material and methods: Ergospirometry before and after training was performed in 71 patients with stable IHD (21.1% females, 78.9% males, mean age 56.5 +/- 10.0 years) for estimation of exercise intensity and efficacy. A total of 36 training sessions were conducted for 12 weeks. Compliance with treatment was assessed by attendance of training sessions.

Results: A direct correlation was found between the attendance and duration of IHD (r = 0.364), number of cardiovascular complications (r = 0.526), functional class of angina pectoris (r = 0.643), plasma cholesterol (r = 0.475). Negative correlation was seen between the attendance and age of the patients (r = 0.327), body mass (r = 0.311), systolic arterial pressure at rest (r = 0.756), VO+AEA-2 peak by ergospirometry before training (r = 0.543) and time of walk to the clinic (r = 0.711). No correlation was found between the attendance and gender of the patients (r = 0.107).

Conclusion: Some clinical features of patients with stable IHD which may indicate low compliance with treatment were identified. These features should be taken into consideration for optimization of cardiorehabilitation programs based on dose-adjusted loads.