Impact of training methods and patient characteristics on exercise capacity in patients in cardiovascular rehabilitation

AimWe aimed to identify patient characteristics and comorbidities that correlate with the initial exercise capacity of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients and to study the significance of patient characteristics, comorbidities and training methods for training achievements and final fitness of CR patients.MethodsWe studied 557 consecutive patients (51.7 ± 6.9 years; 87.9% men) admitted to a three-week in-patient CR. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) was performed at discharge. Exercise capacity (watts) at entry, gain in training volume and final physical fitness (assessed by peak O2 utilization (VO2peak) were analysed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models.ResultsMean training intensity was 90.7 ± 9.7% of maximum heart rate (81% continuous/19% interval training, 64% additional strength training). A total of 12.2 ± 2.6 bicycle exercise training sessions were performed. Increase of training volume by an average of more than 100% was achieved (difference end/beginning of CR: 784 ± 623 watts × min...