Abstract
AIMS: To determine whether a home-based exercise program is able to increase functional capacity (FC) and reduce heart rate variability (HRV) in postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease. BACKGROUND: Regular exercise training has been shown to improve both FC and HRV. However, those studies were conducted within institutional training programs, and few have included women. METHODS: Thirty-two postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group with 16 participants in each group. Those in the experimental group underwent home-based exercise training, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. On the first and final week, each participant's HRV was measured, and their FC was evaluated using a 6-minute walking test. FINDINGS: After 8 weeks, the FC of those who had undergone the home-based exercise program showed a significant improvement compared with subjects in the control group (P = .001). The total power (ms), high-frequency (ms), and low-frequency (ms) indexes of HRV were also significantly improved over control values. CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease, a home-based exercise program appears able to improve FC and HRV.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 137-144 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2011 |
Keywords
- coronary artery disease
- functional capacity
- heart rate variability
- home-based exercise program
- postmenopausal women
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
- Advanced and Specialised Nursing