Changes in functional capacity of heart failure patients following a cardiac rehabilitation program

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program on functional capacity in patients with heart failure at a high-complexity hospital in the city of Cali during the period from 2017 to 2023.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study that included 127 patients over 18 years of age diagnosed with heart failure, who completed 36 rehabilitation sessions with complete records of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), anthropometric and physiological measurements at the beginning and end of the program. Categorical variables were summarized as absolute frequencies and percentages. For dependent variables, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples was applied. Statistical significance was set at 0.05.

Results: The median age was 65 years. Overall, a significant improvement was observed in the distance covered during the walk test and oxygen consumption with the CR program. In patients under 60 years of age, the distance increased from 479.0 to 598.5 meters, while in the group over 60 years, the distance improved from 419.0 to 523.0 meters.

Conclusion: The CR program proved to be effective in improving functional capacity and quality of life in patients. These findings highlight the importance of implementing structured rehabilitation programs for patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: 6-minute walk test; Cardiac rehabilitation; Heart failure; Rehabilitation.