International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-780212201010312828ENPhD, Associate Professor, Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan.MD, Specialist in Community Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical of Sciences, Isfahan.MSc, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan.20101031Objectives: Supervised exercise cardiac rehabilitation programs<br />have been suggested to all patients specially patients with postmyocardial<br />infarction (MI) for many years. However, limited information<br />is available on the usefulness of exercise rehabilitation<br />programs in chronic MI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the<br />outcome of supervised exercise training on MI patients by measuring<br />both physical and physiological factors.<br />Methods: This was a semi-experimental randomized study. Itincluded<br />seventy two (35 cases, 37 controls) post-MI patients aged 40<br />to 67 years. They were randomly selected from those with MI<br />based on WHO criteria who were referred to cardiac rehabilitation<br />unit of Isfahan Shahid Chamran cardiovascular research center.<br />After initial measurements including weight, height, functional<br />capacity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and systolic blood<br />pressure (SBP) in both resting and exercise states, patients were<br />randomized into either the training group (n=35) or the control<br />group (n =37). The training group had supervised aerobic training<br />program, three times a week, with 60-70% of the maximal heart<br />rate (HR) reserve for two months. After the training program was<br />completed, all measurements were repeated in both groups. Data<br />were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with<br />repeated measures.<br />Results: Patients in exercise group showed statistically significant<br />improvement in resting HR (81.27&plusmn;7.75 bpm vs.<br />74.17&plusmn;10.11bpm, p&le;0.001), resting SBP (125.92&plusmn;9.30 mmHg vs.<br />123.54&plusmn;6.82 mmHg, p&le;0.01), SBP peak (150.22&plusmn;7.12 mmHg vs.<br />133.54&plusmn;6.82 mmHg, p&le;0.001), HR peak (132.51&plusmn;3.06 bpm vs.<br />142.00&plusmn;3.14bpm, p&le;0.001), and exercise capacity (8.49&plusmn;1.18<br />METs vs. 9.42&plusmn;1.19 METs, p&le;0.01).<br />Conclusions: The results from the study showed that a 2-month<br />exercise rehabilitation program in post-MI patients is useful for<br />improving both blood pressure and exercise capacity and should<br />be encouraged more commonly.<br />Keywords: Myocardial infarction; Exercise cardiac rehabilitation;<br />Blood pressure; Functional capacity.http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/28http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/28/285