Exercise Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Benefits AF Patients

A contemporary review with meta-analysis demonstrated that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ExCR) appears beneficial and safe for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The study analyzed data from 20 randomized clinical trials involving 2,039 participants with a mean follow-up of 11 months. ExCR did not significantly affect all-cause mortality (8.3% vs 6.0%; rate ratio [RR] 1.06) or serious adverse events (2.9% vs 4.1%; RR 1.30), but it significantly improved several clinical outcomes: reduced AF symptom severity, AF burden, episode frequency and duration, and AF recurrence (RR 0.68), while also enhancing exercise capacity (VO2 peak mean difference 3.18 mL/kg/min). Mental, but not physical, components of health-related quality of life improved. The effects of ExCR were consistent across trials. No differences were observed across AF subtypes, ExCR dosage, or delivery methods. ExCR has shown improvements in functional capacity and quality of life in other cardiac conditions, such as heart failure and coronary artery disease. Source: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/