Clinical Outcomes and Cardiovascular Responses According to Exercise Training Intensity in Heart Failure Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To establish if exercise training intensity produces different effect size in cardio-respiratory fitness, adherence, rates of serious events, mortality and hospitalisation in heart failure patients. Background: Intuitively higher exercise intensity is considered to be higher risk for serious medical events, but intensity may be the primary stimulus for physical adaptation. Methods: We conducted a MEDLINE search (1985-2012), for exercise based rehabilitation trials in heart failure. Seventy-one studies were included. Eight (11%)were high-, 36 (49.5%) vigorous-, 24 (33%) moderate and five (6.5%) low-intensity, providing a total of 3229 exercising subjects and 2672 control subjects.