A comparative study between effects of aerobic exercises and conventional treatment on selected outcomes of heart failure clients

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is now a major public health issue with a current prevalence of over 23 million worldwide. Physical exercise is now mandatory for HF management to improve a sense of wellbeing. The purpose of the study was to compare the effect of aerobic exercises with the conventional treatment methods with selected patient outcomes among heart failure patients. A quantitative experimental research approach with a post-test-only control group design was adopted. A total of 40 HF patients were taken as study sample, and they were randomly divided into two groups. One group was given conservative treatment, whereas the other was trained with aerobic exercise.  Aerobic exercise training was given to the training group for 30 days, and physical, physiological, and psychological changes were assessed by standardized rating scales. A difference of post-test scores of the exercise training group and conservative treatment group were examined using t-tests and Chi-square tests. Out of 40 patients (45% above 60yrs of age, 62.5% male), two groups exhibited an extremely significant difference in terms of HF symptoms, pain, and anxiety (p < 0.00001). HF symptoms, chest pain, anxiety exhibited a significant association with age, edema showed significant association with occupation and oxygen uptake showed a significant association with age and occupation. This study concluded that  aerobic exercises are highly effective to improve the activity tolerance of the body and can significantly reduce pain, edema, and anxiety levels in heart failure patients receiving conservative treatment.