EXERCISE HABITS AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE DURING COMPREHENSIVE REHABILITATION AFTER CORONARY-ARTERY BYPASS-SURGERY

The effects of training as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme on exercise capacity and habits was studied in 171 male coronary artery bypass surgery patients randomized into a rehabilitation (R) (n = 93) and a reference, hospital-based treatment (H), group (n = 78). The rehabilitation programme started with a 2-day informative course before surgery and continued with a 3-week exercise-based course 2 months after surgery followed by a 2-day refresher 8 months post-operatively. The percentages of subjects having regular exercise were 22% and 10% pre-operatively, 42% and 38% 6 months and 46% and 38% 12 months after surgery in the R and H groups, respectively. The changes in the proportions observed in R and H groups were not significantly different. Total work during a bicycle exercise test increased from 38.9 ± 24.3 kJ pre-operatively to 64.0 ± 31-4 kJ 6 months (P<0.001) and to 70.0 ± 35.7 kJ 12 months (P<0-001) post-operatively in group R and from 40.8 ± 25.6 kJ to 57.3 ± 26-6 kJ (P<0.001) and to 60.4 ± 30.8 kJ (P<0.001) in group H, respectively. The increase from the pre-operative value was greater in group R than in group H both 6 (P = 0.03) and 12 months (P = 0.02) after surgery. Respective changes occurred in maximal work load, but the increase was significantly greater in group R than in group H only 12 months post-operatively. Thus coronary artery bypass surgery results in restoration of an active life style, and an exercise-based educational comprehensive rehabilitation programme additionally increases exercise capacity. © 1992 The European Society of Cardiology.