Effects of cardiac rehabilitation on cardiac functions and quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

AIM To evaluate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation on cardiac functions and quality of life in patients with angina pectoris (AP) of coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODSSeventy-six patients with AP who underwent PCI between March 2014 and September 2014 were randomized to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) group or control group. Patients in the control group were treated with drugs in accordance with the guidelines of PCI and patients in the CR group underwent a 4-month cardiac rehabilitation program in addition to drugs after PCI. All patients were given conventional treatment for AP. Medication compliance, cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia) and New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification were examined. Changes of exercise tolerance, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and quality of life assessed with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) scores were analyzed. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and adverse reaction of CR were also recorded. RESULTSCompared with the control group, CR group showed significant improvement in medication compliance, NYHA Functional Classification ［(1.05±0.23) vs.(1.32±0.47), P<0.05］, exercise tolerance ［(10.6±2.0) METs vs. (8.9±2.0) METs, P<0.05］, LVEF ［(56±7)% vs. (49±8)%, P<0.05］ and the SAQ scores ［physical activity tolerance (PL) (78±7) vs. (67±7), treatment satisfaction (TS) (83±9) vs. (75±7) and disease perception (DP) (55±17) vs. (48±14), all P<0.05］. There were fewer cardiovascular risk factors in the CR group and no MACE and adverse reaction of CR were recorded. CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that cardiac rehabilitation is safe for patients with AP of CAD who underwent PCI. Cardiac rehabilitation can improve cardiac functions and quality of life in these patients.