Jhonatan Betancourt-Peña, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte; Facultad de Salud, Escuela de Rehabilitación Humana, Universidad del Valle. Cali, Colombia
Ana Ma. Chacón-García, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Nicolás González-Buitrago, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Iván A. Jaramillo-Rey, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Samuel Mosquera-Gonzáles, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Juan C. Ávila-Valencia, Facultad de Salud y Rehabilitación, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Introduction: Heart failure, associated with high mortality and comorbidity, negatively impacts the quality of life of patients. Although cardiac rehabilitation is recommended, low adherence limits its benefits. This study describes the clinical and functional aerobic capacity differences between women and men with heart failure at the start of a cardiac rehabilitation program. Objective: To describe the clinical and functional aerobic capacity differences between women and men with heart failure upon entry to a cardiac rehabilitation program. Methods: This study presents a descriptive cross-sectional design prepared under the recommendations of STROBE. Patients diagnosed with heart failure by a cardiologist and recommended to undergo cardiac rehabilitation will be included. Results: A total of 191 records are presented, distributed between 127 men and 64 women, the average age of the patients was 62.99 ± 13.17 years. Regarding functional capacity, significant differences were found between men and women (p = 0.008) in the 6-Minute Walk Test (23.71 ± 8.85), Vo2 (0.40 ± 0.15 ml/kg), Mets (0.11 ± 0.04) and repetitions of the Sit to Stand test (2.64 ± 0.72) (p = 0.000). No differences were found regarding vital signs and the evaluation of quality of life and emotional factors such as depression. Conclusions: Men with heart failure have better functional aerobic capacity, while women have worse total cholesterol levels and reduced LVEF.
Keywords: Heart Failure. Functional capacity. Cardiac rehabilitation. Sex.
