Effects of yoga exercise on exercise capacity, anxiety and depression in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of yoga exercise on exercise capacity, anxiety and depression in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Methods 75 patients with emergency PCI in Cardiology Department of a ClassⅢ Grade A hospital in Zhengzhou from January to December in 2017 were seclected as subjects and randomly divided into control group (n=37) and intervention group (n=38) by convenient sampling. The control group received routine care, including health education, psychological care, risk factor control, medication and routine exercise education; the intervention group implemented a yoga-based exercise based on the control group. The incidence of adverse cardiac events after intervention was compared between the two groups. Before and after the intervention, the 6-min walk test (6MWT) , the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) , and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to evaluate the two groups of patients. Results Within 6 months of interventional therapy, 11 patients in the control group developed angina pectoris, and 3 patients in the intervention group developed angina pectoris. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The differences of 6MWT distances between the two groups at 1st, 3rd, and 6th months after discharge were statistically significant (P<0.05) . The differences of SAS scores between the two groups at 1st, 3rd, and 6th months after discharge were statistically significant (P<0.05) . There were significant differences in SDS scores between the two groups at discharge, and 1, 3, and 6 months after discharge (P<0.05) . Conclusions Yoga-based exercise program can improve the exercise capacity of patients with acute myocardial infarction and relieve anxiety and depression. Key words: Yoga; Acute; Acute myocardial infarction; Percutaneous coronary ntervention; Exercise rehabilitation