The value of early out-patient cardiac exercise programmes for the elderly in comparison with other selected age groups.

To evaluate potential benefits that elderly cardiac patients might gain from early exercise programs, 361 cardiac patients were studied. Seventy-six patients were older than 65 years (elderly). All patients participated in a 12 week exercise program within six weeks of myocardial infarction or cardiac surgery. All patients performed symptom limited exercise tests prior to and after completion of the exercise program. Comparison of pre- and post-training data revealed that elderly patients had significant decrease in body weight, percent body fat, resting heart rate, submaximal average double product, and submaximal average rating of perceived exertion, P less than 0.05. Maximal achieved heart rate and mets significantly increased, P less than 0.05. Comparison of magnitude of changes seen in the elderly with those of younger patients failed to reveal significant differences, P greater than 0.05. These results suggest that the benefits of early exercise program seen in younger patients may also be expected in elderly patients.