ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. General Cardiovascular Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1560243
This article is part of the Research TopicCardiac RehabilitationView all 9 articles
Therapeutic effect of cardiac rehabilitation on patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease: a Retrospective Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Cardiac Rehabilitation, Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 2Department of Cardiology, Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 3Department of Cardiology, Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China
- 4Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, China
- 5Department of Rehabilitation, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Tongji Shanxi Hospital,, Taiyuan, China
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Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with long COVID combined with coronary heart disease (CHD).Methods: This retrospective study included 89 patients with long COVID, who were divided into CHD group and non-CHD group. The clinical indexes such as maximum heart rate and oxygen saturation during cardiac rehabilitation were compared between the two groups of subjects. The 6minute walk test(6-MWT), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Nicotine Dependence Detection Scale (FTND) and the Depression Screening Scale (PHQ-9) were administered to patients. The same measures were re-administered to the patients after 3 months to explore the long-term effects of cardiac rehabilitation therapy.Results: Before receiving treatment, the maximum heart rate, maximum diastolic blood pressure and minimum SpO2 of the CHD group were significantly lower than those of the non-CHD group.The maximum heart rate, maximum systolic blood pressure, and 6-MWT were significantly lower before treatment than those at three months for both groups of patients. The PSQI, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and FTND scores were significantly higher before treatment than those at three months for both groups of patients. Comparison of differences between the two groups before and after treatment revealed that the CHD group had significantly worse cardiovascular measurements after SARS-CoV-2 infection than the non-CHD group.Patients with long COVID combined with CHD have more severe symptoms, especially for their cardiac function. Cardiac rehabilitation can effectively improve patients' symptoms, and has long-term effects.
Keywords: Long Covid, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Retrospective study, sleep quality, Anxiety, Depression
Received: 14 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Du, Du, Lei, Wang, Wang, Du, Bai and Yuan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Hui Du, Department of Cardiac Rehabilitation, Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, China
Dajiang Yuan, Department of Cardiology, Shanxi Cardiovascular Disease Hospital, Taiyuan, China
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