Resistance and Balance Training Improves Functional Capacity in Very Old Participants Attending Cardiac Rehabilitation After Coronary Bypass Surgery

Objectives To compare the efficacy of intensive functional exercise training with that of usual cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in very old adults soon after coronary bypass surgery (CABG). Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting In‐hospital CR. Participants Individuals aged 75 and older (n = 173, mean 78.5 ± 3.2) participated in inpatient CR, which started soon after surgery (13.1 ± 5.3 days) and lasted for a mean of 20.4 ± 3.2 days. Intervention Participants were randomly assigned to an inpatient CR intervention group (IG; n = 84) or a control group (CG; n = 89). All participants participated in the inpatient CR program. In addition, IG participants participated in resistance training and special balance training (5 d/wk). Measurements Six‐minute walk test, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, Timed‐Up‐and‐Go Test (TUG), and a maximal isometric strength test were used to access functional capacity and the MacNew questionnaire to evaluate health‐related quality of life (HRQL). Results There were significant improvements (P