Impact of Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs Post Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention on Functional Capacity and Metabolic Profile Through Different Age Groups

Introduction: Modern cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a thorough approach including multiple arms that aim at improving quality of life and functional capacity.

Aim: To study the impact of age on the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation program post-successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: This retrospective study includes 250 patients post primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who underwent a complete 12-week cardiac rehabilitation program. Functional capacity, metabolic profile, and parameters of diastolic function were assessed and compared at baseline and after completing the program. Four age strata were compared in terms of improvement of the various parameters studied.

Results: In the whole patient group, the workload achieved in metabolic equivalents (METS) and maximum exercise time significantly increased. Regarding metabolic profile, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and Triglycerides significantly decreased. While high-density lipoproteins (HDL) increased but didn't reach significance. Echo data reflecting diastolic dysfunction also improved significantly. We found that the magnitude of improvement in all the earlier-mentioned parameters showed no statistically significant difference among the four age groups studied.

Conclusion: Cardiac rehabilitation program post primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) significantly improves functional capacity, metabolic profile, and diastolic function. It is never too old or too young to join the CR program. Different age groups benefit equally from rehabilitation.