Effect of walking at home on heart functioning levels of people with heart failure

Background and Objectives: Heart failure is more common in the elderly than in the general population. Among the non-drug treatments, the easiest and most comprehensible method is direct implementation of sports program. Due to high cost of hospital care for patients with heart failure and complications, this study examined the effects of walking as a form of rehabilitation program. The subjects were patients hospitalized for heart failure. Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blind trial carried out on 50 elderly patients with hearth failure evacuation fraction less than 50% in 2014. Then, they were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. The intervention group did exercise program on all days of the week except Friday. A questionnaire was used to collect date before and after intervention in both groups. To analyze the data, we used Chi-square, Exact Fisher test and Friedman test and SPSS 16. Results: Fridman test of cardiac function levels in the control group both before and after the implementation period showed no significant difference (p>0/05). In the intervention group, however, a significant difference was observed between two intervening periods (p<0/05). Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that an exercise program can be safely performed in patients with class II and III heart failure and prevent deterioration of the disease.