Effects of exercise on heart rate variability in elderly patients wit h old myocardial infarction / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of exerci se on heart rate variability (HRV) in elderly patients with old myocardial infarct ion (OMI). Methods Fourty-three patients were recrui ted and divided into an exercise group (24 cases) and a control group (19 cases) . All the patients were given conventional treatment, with those in the exercise group being administered with adequate exercise in addition. Twenty-four hour Holter taper and ultrasonic cardiogram were performed before and at the end of t he 1 month exercise program, respectively, for HRV analysis and cardiac function assessment. Results Before the exercise,HRV and card iac function of senile patients with OMI were significantly lower than those of the controls( P 0.05). Conclusion Exercise can sign ificantly improve the cardiac function of elderly patients with old myocardial i nfarction.