Effects of cardiac rehabilitation programs on exercise capacity, coronary risk factors, behavioral characteristics, and quality of life in a large elderly cohort.

Despite the limitations of our study, we believe the current data support the beneficial effects of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training in the elderly, including modest improvements in lipids, obesity indexes, behavioral characteristics, and quality-of-life parameters, and marked improvements in exercise capacity. In fact, elderly patients had greater improvements than younger patients in both exercise capacity and mental health after cardiac rehabilitation. These data indicate that elderly patients with CAD should be routinely referred to and vigorously encouraged to pursue formal outpatient cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training programs after major CAD events.