Prehabilitation and heart failure: main outcomes in the COVID-19 era

The advent of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in an increase in sedentary behavior, with consequences on cardiopulmonary capacity, especially in the elderly population. Prehabilitation is a strategy usually used before a surgical procedure to improve functional capacity; however, it can be used for non-surgical patients and not in the acute phase of disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a prehabilitation program, using telerehabilitation, in frail elderly patients with chronic heart failure.

This is a randomized, controlled, single-blind study. Fifteen patients with chronic heart failure were randomized into three groups: two active groups (telerehabilitation and in-person) and the control group. Patients in the active groups underwent a rehabilitation program divided into two 4-week periods, for 45-60 minutes per day, 2 days per week.

In the Study Group, the quality of life significantly improved (EQoL-5D), and between the two groups a statistically significant difference in the motor dimension of SF-36 was identified.

The telerehabilitation prehabilitation program for patients with chronic heart failure was confirmed to be effective and not inferior to a prehabilitation program performed in-person, avoiding the worsening of some domains of quality of life and motor performance, and leading to the improvement of others.