Atrial fibrillation negatively impacts physical fitness and health-related quality of life. We recently showed that 3 months of physiotherapist-led exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improves physical fitness and muscle function in elderly patients with permanent atrial fibrillation and concomitant diseases. Little is, however, known about the consequences for physical fitness, physical activity level, and health-related quality of life after ending the rehabilitation period. Prospective 3 months follow-up study of 38 patients out of 40 eligible (10 women) who, as part of a randomized controlled trial, had completed a 3 months physiotherapist-led cardiac rehabilitation resulting in improved physical fitness,. In the current study, the participants were instructed to refrain from exercise for 3 months after completion of the rehabilitation period. Primary outcome measure was physical fitness measured as highest achieved workload using an exercise tolerance test. Secondary outcome measures were muscle function (muscle endurance tests), physical activity level (questionnaire and accelerometer), and health-related quality of life, (Short Form-36), as in the preceding intervention study. We used the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to analyse differences between the end of rehabilitation and at follow-up. The effect size was determined using Cohen’s d . Exercise capacity and exercise time significantly decresead between end of rehabilitation and at follow-up (p < .0001 for both). A significant reduction in shoulder flexion repetitions (p = .006) was observed as well as reduced health-related quality of life in the Short Form-36 dimensions Physical Function (p = .042), Mental Health (p = .030), and Mental Component Score (p = .035). There were, however, no changes regarding objective and subjective physical activity measurements. In older patients with permanent atrial fibrillation, previously achieved improvements from physiotherapist-led exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation in physical fitness and muscle function were lost, and health-related quality of life was impaired after ending the rehabilitation period. A strategy for conserving improvements after a rehabilitation period is essential.

中文翻译：

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心房颤动患者心脏康复后3个月停止训练的影响

心房颤动会对身体健康和与健康相关的生活质量产生负面影响。我们最近表明，3 个月的物理治疗师主导的基于运动的心脏康复改善了患有永久性心房颤动和伴随疾病的老年患者的身体健康和肌肉功能。然而，关于康复期结束后对身体健康、身体活动水平和与健康相关的生活质量的影响知之甚少。对 40 名合格（10 名女性）中的 38 名患者进行了为期 3 个月的前瞻性随访研究，这些患者作为随机对照试验的一部分，完成了 3 个月的物理治疗师主导的心脏康复，从而改善了身体健康。在目前的研究中，参与者被指示在康复期结束后的 3 个月内不要运动。主要结果测量是使用运动耐量测试将身体健康测量为达到的最高工作量。次要结果测量是肌肉功能（肌肉耐力测试）、身体活动水平（问卷和加速度计）和与健康相关的生活质量（Short Form-36），与之前的干预研究一样。我们使用 Wilcoxon Signed Rank 检验来分析康复结束和随访之间的差异。使用 Cohen's d 确定效应大小。在康复结束和随访期间，运动能力和运动时间显着减少（两者的 p < .0001）。肩部屈曲次数显着减少（p = . 006) 以及在 Short Form-36 维度身体功能 (p = .042)、心理健康 (p = .030) 和心理成分评分 (p = .035) 中降低了与健康相关的生活质量。然而，客观和主观身体活动测量没有变化。在患有永久性心房颤动的老年患者中，之前从物理治疗师主导的基于运动的心脏康复治疗在体能和肌肉功能方面取得的改善消失了，并且在康复期结束后与健康相关的生活质量受损。在康复期后保持改进的策略是必不可少的。客观和主观身体活动测量没有变化。在患有永久性心房颤动的老年患者中，之前从物理治疗师主导的基于运动的心脏康复治疗在体能和肌肉功能方面取得的改善消失了，并且在康复期结束后与健康相关的生活质量受损。在康复期后保持改进的策略是必不可少的。客观和主观身体活动测量没有变化。在患有永久性心房颤动的老年患者中，之前从物理治疗师主导的基于运动的心脏康复治疗在体能和肌肉功能方面取得的改善消失了，并且在康复期结束后与健康相关的生活质量受损。在康复期后保持改进的策略是必不可少的。