Abstract 12849: Impact of Age on Exercise Capacity After Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of many center-based cardiac rehabilitation programs leading many institutions to rely on home-based cardiac rehabilitation (HBCR) to provide critical secondary cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation. The impact of age on the change of exercise frequency and exercise capacity as a result of HBCR during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unknown. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 567 HBCR patients between March 2020 and May 2021. Patients who completed the Duke Activity Status Index questionnaire at enrollment and completion of HBCR were included. We calculated the number of reported exercise days/week , exercise min/day, and VO 2 peak estimated. Patients were divided into two groups according to age (Younger<65 y.o; Older≥65 y.o). Continuous data are described as mean ±SD and baseline data compared with a two-sample t-test. The delta change from pre-post between groups also are compared with a two-sample t-test. Results: Of 567 HBCR patients, 118 patients completed both pre and post HBCR questionnaires (Younger, n=54, 56±8 years old vs Older, n=64, 74±7 y.o, p<0.05). Both groups improved exercise days/week (4.4±2.8 to 5.8±1.3 vs 3.8±2.9 to 5.6±1.6 days, p<0.05 for both), exercise min/day (21±20 to 41±17 vs 20±20 to 37±17 min, p<0.05 for both), and VO 2 peak (20.5±7.1 to 27.6±8.0 vs 21.9±8.1 to 25.1±7.7 ml/min/kg, p<0.05 for both). The delta change for exercise days/week and exercise min/day were not significantly different between groups (1.4±2.7 vs 1.9±2.7 days and 19±19 vs 17±18 min, p>0.05); however, the Younger patients significantly increased their VO 2 peak more than the older patients (7.1±6.1 vs 3.2±5.3 ml/min/kg, p<0.05). Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, exercise frequency (days/week and min/day) and exercise capacity (estimated VO2peak) increased in all patients participating in HBCR. With this, the increase in estimated exercise capacity was greater in younger patients compared with older patients. These findings suggest that additional work is needed to explore factors potentially limiting improvement and strategies to maximize improvement in exercise capacity in older patients participating in HBCR.