Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Vol 50, Issue 1 M7-11, Copyright © 1995 by The Gerontological Society of America
A controlled trial of exercise training in older coronary patients
PA Ades, ML Waldmann and C Gillespie
Division of Cardiology, University of Vermont College of Medicine.
BACKGROUND. This study compared the effects of a formal exercise
conditioning program of 3 and 12 months duration to spontaneous recovery in
a population of older, post-coronary event patients. METHODS. Indices of
peak exercise and submaximal exercise performance such as oxygen
consumption, treadmill work capacity, minute ventilation, heart rate, and
systolic blood pressure were assessed before and after conditioning in 60
post-myocardial infarction and post- coronary bypass surgery patients (mean
age 68 +/- 5 years) and compared to measures of fitness in a usual care
control group (n = 23, mean age 68 +/- 5 years). RESULTS. Maximal treadmill
work capacity increased by 47% in the intervention group at 3 months
compared to no improvement in the usual care control group. However, both
groups increased peak oxygen consumption similarly at 3 and 12 months,
increasing by 16% and 20% in the intervention group at 3 and 12 months and
by 7% and 14% in the control group (p = n.s.). Only the exercise training
group manifested submaximal indices of conditioning such as a lower heart
rate and minute ventilation at a standard workload. CONCLUSION. While
spontaneous improvements in peak oxygen consumption are seen in older
coronary patients in the months following a coronary event, a formal
exercise training program results in significantly greater increases in
peak exercise capacity and in peak and submaximal exercise efficiency.
