Research
Yoga-based cardiac rehab improved quality of life in heart failure trial
In a trial of 3,492 adults with heart failure in India, yoga-based rehab improved quality of life and walking distance but did not significantly reduce cardiac events.
A yoga-based cardiac rehabilitation program improved quality of life and physical function for adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in an Indian trial, but did not significantly reduce a combined measure of death, hospitalization or stroke. The trial assigned 1,737 participants to yoga-based rehab and 1,755 to enhanced standard care.
At three months, the yoga group’s Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire scores improved by about eight points, Medical Xpress reported. MedPage Today reported an 8.1-point difference. Participants in the yoga group walked 25.5 meters farther on average than those receiving enhanced standard care. During a median follow-up of 15 months, 21.0% of the yoga group and 22.8% of the standard-care group experienced the combined outcome. The researchers said further work should assess how to deliver the program at scale and in other health care settings and countries.
