The impact of cardiac rehabilitation on obese vs. non-obese heart failure patients: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Obesity is an important risk factor for the development of heart failure (HF). However, the so-called “obesity paradox” (OP) states that obesity has a protective effect on prognosis once HF is established. Objectives: This retrospective study analyses the impact of cardiac rehabilitation on mortality and rehospitalisation in both obese and lean HF patients. Participants: Data from HF patients with a cardiac related hospital admission between 2015 and 2019 in the ZOL hospital were selected. They were stratified into four groups: 1) obese patients following cardiac rehabilitation, 2) non-obese patients following cardiac rehabilitation, 3) obese patients not following cardiac rehabilitation and 4) non-obese patients not following cardiac rehabilitation. Measurements: All patient information was collected from the hospital’s filing software, HIX and Oxygen. Results: 253 patients were included in the final statistical analysis. Comparison of the mortality between obese vs. non obese groups showed that the non-obese group had a significantly longer survival time (p=0.0170). In addition, there were no significant differences regarding the effect of rehabilitation. Subsequent comparisons between all four groups did not indicate any significant differences in mortality and hospitalisation rates. At last, an increase of NT-proBNP and a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) showed a trend towards a better prognosis, but these findings were not substantial.