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Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): This work was financially supported by the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030011, funded by FEDER, through COMPETE2020-POCI, and by national funds, through FCT/MCTES (PTDC/MEC-CAR/30011/2017). CIAFEL, UnIC and UMIB are supported by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. [(UIDB/00617/2020), (UIDB/00051/2020 and UIDP/00051/2020), and (UIDB/00215/2020 and UIDP/00215/2020), respectively]. CS received an individual grant from CAPES [BEX 0554/14-6]. Introduction Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an evidence-based recommended treatment of heart failure (HF) patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shutdown of CR centers was necessary to limit the infection risk among high-risk patients. The integration of a home-based CR (HBCR) program in CR units can help to improve the delivery of care and improve cardiovascular outcomes of HF patients. Purpose To assess the effectiveness of an HBCR program in HF patients. Methods This is a substudy of the EXercise InTervention in Heart Failure trial (EXIT-HF), which include forty-nine HF patients (preserved and reduced ejection fraction). The HBCR program consisted in 12-week combined exercise program (60%-80% of peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak)), 2 training sessions per week, for a total of 24 sessions. Patients performed 4 supervised training sessions and the remaining sessions at home. All patients performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (VO2 peak), the 6-minute-walking test (6MWT), collected blood analysis (plasma NT-proBNP), and answered the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Results Forty-two patients (86%) complete at least 80% of prescribed training sessions (age: 61.1±12;FEVE: 37.1±10.8). The HBCR program improve VO2 peak from 18.3 to 20.1ml/kg/min (+1.8 ml/kg/min;95%IC:1.4 to 2.4;p<0.001) and the walked distance at the 6MWT from 462 to 512 meters (+49 meters;95%IC: 38 to 60;p<0.001). In addition, overall quality of life was improved (-13 points;95%IC:-7.8 to -18.5;p<0.001), as well physical (-6.3 points;95%IC:-3.5 to -9;p<0.001) and emotional dimension of quality of life (-2.8points ;95%IC: -0.9 to -4.7;p=0.06). No significant change was found in NT-proBNP levels (820±1220 vs 674±903;p=0.285). Conclusions Our results showed that HBCR is feasible and can improve functional capacity and quality of life in HF patients.
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Introduction: The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in physical and mental health and has become a major challenge for cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs. CR is an essential component in the treatment of heart failure (HF), as it improves cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life, as well as reducing hospitalization rates. COVID-19 pandemic increased social isolation, and the CR centers were closed. Center-based CR requires the patient to travel to the hospital, which increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this high-risk population. In this context, home-based CR can be an excellent strategy to reduce the physical and mental consequences of the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To test the effectiveness of a home-based CR program on cardiorespiratory fitness and anxiety and depression levels in individuals with HF during covid-19 pandemic. Methods: Forty-two individuals with HF (age: 61.3±12.0;LVEF: 37.5±11.2) were included in this study. The exercise training program consisted in 12 weeks of combined exercise training (2x/week;60min/day, 60-80% VO2peak), with 4 supervised exercise sessions in the hospital context and the remaining at home. Patients were monitored using a heart rate monitor and weekly phone calls. The following parameters were evaluated: cardiorespiratory fitness through the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and anxiety and depression levels through the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: After the home-based CR program, there was a significant increase in the 6MWT of 49 meters (95%IC: 38 to 60;p<0.001) and a significant decrease in anxiety levels of -1.12 points (95%CI: - 2.163 to -0.075 p=0.036). No significant changes were found in depression levels (p=0.954). Furthermore, the improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness were significantly associated with the reduction in the levels of anxiety (r= -0.281;p=0.028) and depression (r=: -0.278;p=0.030). Conclusions: The home-based CR program was able to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and this improvement was associated with a decrease in anxiety and depression levels in individuals with HF. The results suggest that home-based CR can be an important strategy to minimize the physical and mental impact induced by social isolation imposed by COVID-19 pandemic in HF patients.
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Background: Decision making in hospitals, and especially in their own healthcare services, is hardly referenced in the literature. During the pandemic period, healthcare services have put in place contingency plans to minimize the consequences of the coronavirus on professionals and patients. However, the deployment of contingency plans and results are hardly shared, depriving other services of references to refute, compare or emulate the aforementioned plans. The objective of this work was the description of the implementation and evaluation of Contingency Plans in the Covid-19 pandemic in a unit of inflammatory bowel disease of a Digestive Service in the Sanitary Area of Pontevedra and O Salnes.