Effects of long-term and short-term cardiac rehabilitation programs on cardiovascular risk factors and physical fitness after percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Cardiac rehabilitation programs reduce the likelihood of relapse and cardiac arrest in patients with coronary artery disease. The goal of this study was to compare and analyze changes in cardiovascular risk factors and physical fitness in patients who participated in short-term (ST) and long-term (LT) cardiac rehabilitation programs following coronary artery percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods This study included 193 men aged ≥45 years who received PCI for coronary artery occlusive disease. The participants were divided into ST program participants (3 months, 108 participants; ST group) and LT program participants (12 months, 85 participants; LT group). Blood lipids analysis, body composition, and physical fitness tests were performed to assess cardiovascular risk factors and physical fitness. Paired t-test and two-way ANOVA with repeated measures were used to investigate the effect of the intervention. Results Both groups had significant improvements after cardiac rehabilitation in body fat, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, exercise duration, heart rate (HR) at rest, double product peak, VO2 peak, 6-min walking, and sit-to-stand, compared to baseline. The LT group also had significant improvements after cardiac rehabilitation in waist circumference (WC), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and HR peak. LT group had significantly improved effect than ST group in WC, TC, TG, exercise time, HR peak, and 6-min walking. Conclusion The cardiac rehabilitation program led to improved cardiovascular risk factors and physical fitness, and the LT program was more effective than the ST program.