Cardiac rehabilitation: a comprehensive program for the management of heart failure

Heart failure is one of the major health problems found in the United States today. Medical and interventional therapies play an important role in the treatment of this chronic condition, but they create a huge economic burden on the health care system. Nonpharmacologic interventions need further exploration. This article reviews research that examined the relationship between exercise and heart failure. A variety of exercise modalities measured outcomes of functional capacity and quality of life in both supervised and nonsupervised settings. Many investigators found exercise training to be safe and to confer benefits, especially on functional capacity, quality of life, and survival. The most favorable outcomes were observed in supervised settings. Cardiac rehabilitation provides an ideal environment for safe exercise and management of the health care needs of patients with heart failure. The multidisciplinary staff is adept at providing a paced approach to activity based on individualized exercise prescriptions, education, and management of this population's many comorbidities.