Real-World Evidence of Feasible Assessment and Intervention in Cardiovascular Physical Therapy for Older Patients With Heart Failure - Insight From the J-Proof HF of the Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Physical Therapy

Background: This study aimed to clarify the feasibility of cardiovascular physical therapy assessment and intervention in older patients with heart failure (HF) in Japan.

Methods and results: We performed a secondary analysis of data from a nationwide multicenter registry (the J-Proof HF), and enrolled consecutive HF patients aged ≥65 years who were prescribed cardiovascular physical therapy during hospitalization from December 2020 to March 2022. Of the 9,650 enrolled patients (median age 83.0 years; 49.8% male), the availability rate of comorbidities and assessments was >95%. In the activities of daily living (ADL) assessment, the Barthel Index (BI) and Functional Independence Measure were 97.6% and 60.4%, respectively. The results of the physical therapy assessment indicated completion rates of ≥80%, with lower rates of <60% for gait speed and short-performance physical battery in the group with a BI of <85 points. In physiotherapy intervention, gait training and muscle strength training were performed by >80% of patients, whereas aerobic exercise and resistance training were performed by 35.4% and 2.6% patients, respectively.

Conclusions: Our results in this study indicated that medical findings, such as comorbidities, echocardiography, and laboratory findings, were considered a feasible assessment that could be confirmed at all hospitals. Gait training, ADL training, and muscle strength training are much more common than exercise training in older patients with HF.