Adaptive posture-balance cardiac rehabilitation exercise significantly improved physical tolerance in patients with cardiovascular diseases

Abstract Background: This study aimed to assess the effect of a self-created therapy with adaptive posture-balance cardiac rehabilitation exercise (APBCRE) on physical tolerance in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), in terms of the measurements from the exercise cardiopulmonary function measurement system.Methods: The CVDs patients were selected into this study, in which every subject was guided to take an APBCRE evenly twelve times per month. At baseline and after one-month APBCRE, participants underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) measurements, resting metabolic rate (RMR), and filled in questionnaires about quality of life (QoL). The results of CPET and QoL at multiple time points were statistically analyzed to evaluate the clinical therapeutic effects of one-month APBCRE. The factor of age was addressed in data analysis as well.Results: 93 samples (80.65% male, 53.03±12.02 years) were included into the analysis. After one-month APBCRE, oxygen update (VO2, 11.16±2.91 to 12.85±3.17 mL/min/kg, p<0.01), ventilation (VE, 28.87±7.26 to 32.42±8.50 mL/min/kg, p<0.01), respiratory exchange ratio (RER, 0.93±0.06 to 0.95±0.05, p<0.01) in anaerobic threshold and oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) (1426.75±346.30 to 1547.19±403.49, P<0.01) of the participants improved significantly. Moreover, compared with the >55-year group, the ≤55-year group acted much higher increment (VO2 at anaerobic threshold, 23% vs. 16%; OUES, 13% vs. 6%). The quality of life score (SF-12) was also improved with rehabilitation (47.78±16.74 to 59.27±17.77, p<0.001). Conclusions: This study proved that APBCRE was a potentially available exercise rehabilitation modality for patients with cardiovascular diseases, which significantly improved physical tolerance and quality of life, more effectively for ≤55-year patients.