"The effect of supervised exercise training on psychological characteristics and physical fitness after myocardial infarction "

Abstract

Regarding the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) especially myocardial infarction (MI), and the insufficiency of information in the field of physical rehabilitation, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a course of physical rehabilitation on the psychological status and physical characteristics f cardiac patients. In this study, the effect of 8 weeks exercise training, 3 sessions of 45 minutes duration per week, on the physical and psychological function of MI patients was evaluated. Eighty patients who were referred to the rehabilitation unit of Isfahan cardiovascular Research Center were randomly divided into two groups of exercise and non-exercise. The data of pre and post exercise course were analyzed with the SPSS software using the two-sample t-test and multiple liner regression. The comparison of the mean changes of functional capacity. Weight, body mass index (BMI), heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures between exercise and non-exercise groups after 8 weeks showed significant difference for all studied factors (P<0.05). Also, investigating the psychological characteristics such as depression, anxiety and hostility scores indicated a significant change after exercise training (P<0.05). Personality and behavior showed no significant difference. This study suggests the functional has a significant effect on improving the function capacity and psychological behavior in post MI patients.