Influence of Discontinuation of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Elderly Outpatients Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Cardiovasc Dev Dis
; 9(6)2022 Jun 18.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35735824
ABSTRACT
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has restricted people's activities and necessitated the discontinuation of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs for outpatients. In our hospital, CR for outpatients had to be discontinued for 3 months. We investigated the influence of this discontinuation of CR on physical activity, body composition, and dietary intake in cardiovascular outpatients.Method:
Seventy-eight outpatients who restarted CR were investigated. We measured body composition, balance test, stage of locomotive syndrome, and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) results at restart and 3 months later. We also investigated the results of examination that were obtained before discontinuation.Results:
With regard to baseline characteristics, the percentage of male was 62.7% (n = 49), and average age and body mass index were 74.1 ± 8.5 years and 24.9 ± 7.0 kg/m2, respectively. Stage of locomotive syndrome and the results of FFQ did not change significantly. The one-leg standing time with eyes open test significantly worsened at restart (p < 0.001) and significantly improved 3 months later (p = 0.007). With regard to body composition, all limb muscle masses were decreased at restart and decreased even further 3 months later.Conclusions:
Discontinuation of CR influenced standing balance and limb muscle mass. While the restart of CR may improve a patient's balance, more time is required for additional daily physical activities. The recent pandemic-related interruption of CR should inspire the development of alternatives that could ensure the continuity of CR in a future crisis.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
J Cardiovasc Dev Dis
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan