Abstract 13703: Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Reduces Heart Failure Re-Hospitalization in Patient With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction When Compared to Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation has been increasingly recognized as an integral part in the management of patients with congestive heart failure. It has been shown to improve the quality of life in this patient population. However, It is unknown how much cardiac rehabilitation reduces heart failure hospitalizations in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) versus heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Hypothesis: We hypothesize that outpatient cardiac rehabilitation is associated with reduced re-hospitalization for heart failure symptoms in patients with heart failure with HFrEF when compared with patients with HFpEF. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 128 heart failure patients enrolled in an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation center from January 2015 to December 2020. The number of heart failure re-hospitalizations was measured in each of these patients. A Student t-test was used to analyze the difference between the two groups, while fisher’s test or chi square was used to analyze categorical variables. Results: Among the 128 patients enrolled in the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation center, age 68.1+-14 years, 63 (57.1%) were males. There were 70 patients (54.6%) in the HFrEF group and 58 (55.28%) in the HFpEF group. Hospitalization for acute exacerbation of heart failure symptoms was lower in the patients with HFrEF when compared with patients with HFpEF (41.3% vs 70.69% p value <0.0009). Conclusion: Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program is associated with reduced hospitalization for heart failure symptoms in patients with HFrEF when compared to patients with HFpEF.