The effects of cardiac rehabilitation program on exercise capacity and coronary risk factors in CABG Patients aged 45-65

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of mortalily and inability. In Iran, one third of mortality causes are coronary heart diseases. So, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a Cardiac Rehabilitation program (CR) on exercise capacity (VO2max) and coronary risk factors in CABG patients aged 45-65. Of 36 CABG patients randomly selected from Hamadan Shahid Beheshti hospital, 18 subjects as experimental group (with mean age 54.57±6.26 years and weight 72.14±10.83 kg; participated in CR program), and 18 subjects as control group (with mean age 57.64±4.75 years and weight 76.5±12 kg; without participation in any exercise and CR program) participated in this study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. CR program was an eight-week involving warm-up, aerobic exercises and cool-down. Variables including: anthropometrics measurements and exercise capacity (VO2max), and also coronary risk factors such as body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), LDL-HDL ratio (LHR), body fat percent (BFP) were determined at the first and the last week of CR program in both groups. Statistical analysis by independent t-test indicated that after program, there was a significant difference between 2 groups in VO2max, BMI, WHR, SBP, DBP, TC, TG, LDL, LHR (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in FBS, HDL, BFP. The CR program of the present study indicated a significant effect on exercise capacity and some coronary risk factors profile in CABG patients of 45-65 and can it be considered as a suitable program for CABG patients.