Measurement of cardiac functioning in older adults with heart failure after exercise

Although the length of a hospital stay is very limited for patients with heart failure, many patients attempt to resume some activities of daily living soon after arrival at home. Home care nurses routinely assess symptoms indicative of recurrent heart failure and the need for hospital readmission. The purpose of this comparative study was to determine whether there was a significant difference in diastolic blood pressure and oxygen saturation after walking for 6 min. Twenty adults with heart failure in an outpatient cardiology clinic were evaluated after the 6-min walk test. Although diastolic blood pressure and oxygen saturation were not significantly different after walking for 6 min, functional status was significantly related to oxygen saturation. Further study with home care clients is needed to evaluate the relation between activity and oxygen saturation.