Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012;7(7):e41199.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041199. Epub 2012 Jul 18.

Home-based aerobic interval training improves peak oxygen uptake equal to residential cardiac rehabilitation: a randomized, controlled trial

Trine Moholdt  1 , Mona Bekken Vold, Jostein Grimsmo, Stig Arild Slørdahl, Ulrik Wisløff
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Home-based aerobic interval training improves peak oxygen uptake equal to residential cardiac rehabilitation: a randomized, controlled trial

Trine Moholdt et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Aerobic capacity, measured as the peak oxygen uptake, is a strong predictor of survival in cardiac patients. Aerobic interval training (AIT), walking/running four times four minutes at 85-95% of peak heart rate, has proven to be effective in increasing peak oxygen uptake in coronary heart disease patients. As some patients do not attend organized rehabilitation programs, home-based exercise should be an alternative. We investigated whether AIT could be performed effectively at home, and compared the effects on peak oxygen uptake with that observed after a standard care, four-week residential rehabilitation. Thirty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery were randomized to residential rehabilitation or home-based AIT. At six months follow-up, peak oxygen uptake increased 4.6 (±2.7) and 3.9 (±3.6) mL·kg(-1) min(-1) (both p<0.005, non-significant between-group difference) after residential rehabilitation and AIT, respectively. Quality of life increased significantly in both groups, with no statistical significant difference between groups. We found no evidence for a different treatment effect between patients randomized to home-based AIT compared to patients attending organized rehabilitation (95% confidence interval -1.8, 3.5). AIT patients reported good adherence to exercise training. Even though these first data indicate positive effects of home-based AIT in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, more studies are needed to provide supporting evidence for the application of this rehabilitation strategy.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00363922.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow-chart of participants in the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Clark AM, Hartling L, Vandermeer B, McAlister FA. Meta-analysis: secondary prevention programs for patients with coronary artery disease. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:659–672. - PubMed
    1. Helgerud J, Hoydal K, Wang E, Karlsen T, Berg P, et al. Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:665–671. - PubMed
    1. Gormley SE, Swain DP, High R, Spina RJ, Dowling EA, et al. Effect of intensity of aerobic training on VO2max. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008;40:1336–1343. - PubMed
    1. Moholdt TT, Amundsen BH, Rustad LA, Wahba A, Lovo KT, et al. Aerobic interval training versus continuous moderate exercise after coronary artery bypass surgery: A randomized study of cardiovascular effects and quality of life. Am Heart J. 2009;158:1031–1037. - PubMed
    1. Warburton DE, McKenzie DC, Haykowsky MJ, Taylor A, Shoemaker P, et al. Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training for the rehabilitation of patients with coronary artery disease. Am J Cardiol. 2005;95:1080–1084. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data