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Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) will become one of the greatest medical challenges during the next decades. This is especially true with regard to elderly patients. Besides medical diagnostics and drug therapy, efficient treatment of CHF must also include exercise training., Aims: The purpose of our study was 1) to record health-related quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with CHF and 2) to assess the efficacy of a training program, as well as to evaluate any changes detected during a six month follow-up., Methods: In our non-randomized study, 116 patients, divided according to age into Group 1 (>70 years) and Group 2 (<70 years), took part in a 4-week training program., Results: There were differences in the clinical parameters and the QOL between the older and the younger patients both after 4 weeks and at the follow-up. After six months, however, the older patients again recorded having an inferior QOL to that of the younger patients., Conclusion: Elderly patients can also benefit from physical exercise training, with improvement in clinical parameters and QOL. In order to maintain the subjectively improved QOL in the long term, however, continued special heart failure education and support is required.

Background: There is now evidence that moderate training plays an important role in the treatment of chronic heart failure. No clear instructions exist to date as to how such training programs should be carried out., Aim: to assess the efficiency of a training program including bicycle ergometer training, moderate muscle strength training and the 6-min walk test and their influence on quality of life, anxiety and depression., Methods and Results: Patients (67 male, 21 female) underwent a standardized 4-week training program., Baseline Data: LVEF=31+/-8%; LVEDD=143+/-59 ml; peak VO(2)=13.9+/-4.6 kg/ml. No adverse side effects could be observed. At discharge LVEF was 37+/-9%, (P=0.001); LVEDD=131+/-44ml (P=0.01); and peak VO(2)=15.4+/-5.0 kg/ml. Quality of life improved significantly in nearly all domains and in summary score. There were no significant changes in anxiety and depression. There is a negative correlation between the initial workload and changes in physical health (r=-0.42, P=0.001) and only a weak correlation between age and positive changes in physical health (r=0.26, P=0.05)., Conclusions: A standardized training program including moderate muscle strength training could be performed safely and demonstrated improvement in clinical parameters and quality of life., (Copyright 2002 European Society of Cardiology)