Exercise and muscle strength training and their effect on quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure

Background: There is now evidence that moderate training plays an important role in the treatment of chronic heart failure. No clear instructions exist to date as to how such training programs should be carried out. Aim: to assess the efficiency of a training program including bicycle ergometer training, moderate muscle strength training and the 6‐min walk test and their influence on quality of life, anxiety and depression. Methods and results: Patients (67 male, 21 female) underwent a standardized 4‐week training program. Baseline data: LVEF=31±8%; LVEDD=143±59 ml; peak VO2=13.9±4.6 kg/ml. No adverse side effects could be observed. At discharge LVEF was 37±9%, (P=0.001); LVEDD=131±44ml (P=0.01); and peak VO2=15.4±5.0 kg/ml. Quality of life improved significantly in nearly all domains and in summary score. There were no significant changes in anxiety and depression. There is a negative correlation between the initial workload and changes in physical health (r=−0.42, P=0.001) and only a weak correlation between age and positive changes in physical health (r=0.26, P=0.05). Conclusions: A standardized training program including moderate muscle strength training could be performed safely and demonstrated improvement in clinical parameters and quality of life.