Electronically aided rehabilitation exercise to improve the cardiac function of patients with chronic hear failure / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effect of assistive functional rehabilitation exercise on cardiac functioning of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods Sixty CHF patients were divided randomly into a treatment group (the rehabilitation group) and a control group, with 30 in each group. All the patients were administered routine therapy. In the treatment group, the patients were administered rehabilitation exercises with the assistance of a electric equipment made by the authors, daily for 5 days a week for a total of 3 months. The New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function grading, the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), the left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level in plasma as well as the 6 min walking range were observed in both groups before and after treatment. Results After 3-months of treatment, the NYHA grading, LVEF, LVEDD, BNP level in plasma and 6 min walking range were all significantly improved in both groups when compared with those before the treatment, with the treatment group improved to a significantly larger extent than the control group ( p<0.05 ). Conclusion Assistive rehabilitation exercise in addition to the routine therapy can significantly help improve the cardiac function in CHF patients.