SIMPLE CLINICAL-DATA ARE USEFUL IN PREDICTING EFFECT OF EXERCISE TRAINING AFTER MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

Objectives The aim of the present study was to determine whether simpl e clinical variables can predict the effect of intensive exercise trai ning in an unselected population early after myocardial infarction. Me thods Starting 5 weeks after the qualifying myocardial infarction, 105 patients, 68 years old or younger, completed a 4 week period of inten sive exercise training. The training effect was defined as an absolute increase in cumulative work at bicycle ergometry. Using univariate an d multivariate analysis, 28 variables were tested against the training effect. Results The mean exercise capacity increased from 46.7 +/- 22 .7 kJ to 69.5 +/- 31.1 kJ (P=0.0001). Multivariate analysis identified five independent predictors of the training effect. Myocardial infarc t size was associated with a better training effect (P=0.0018), as was male gender (P=0.0042) and ability to exercise to exhaustion at the b aseline exercise test (P=0.0124). Older age (P=0.0017) and treatment w ith beta-adrenergic blocking agents (P=0.0241) were associated with a lower effect from training. These five variables explained 33% of the variations in effect from training. Patients suffering in-hospital car diac complications or congestive heart failure achieved a training eff ect at least as great as patients without cardiac complications. Concl usions Five simple clinical variables, including infarct size, can ass ist in the selection of patients for exercise training after myocardia l infarction.