Quality of life of elderly participants in cardiovascular rehabilitation programs: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Participation in cardiovascular rehabilitation programs can influence the quality of life of elderly cardiac patients. Objective: To evaluate the impact of cardiac rehabilitation on the quality of life of the elderly. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted through a bibliographic search of clinical trials published in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian up to October 2011 in four databases (BVS, Medline, PEDro, and Cochrane). A search strategy using two terms at a time was employed with the following list of expressions: “cardiovascular rehabilitation” or “cardiac rehabilitation” and “quality of life”. Results: Of 684 studies found, 675 were excluded because they were not clinical trials that target elderly population (age ≥ 60 years), did not have quality of life as an outcome, or were not available in the cited languages. Conclusions: This review found that participation in cardiac rehabilitation programs produced positive impact on the quality of life of the elderly, the benefit being higher in subjects with advanced age.