Effect Of Physical Exercise Interventions On Functional Capacity In Coronary Artery Disease Patients, A Meta-Analysis

Functional capacity (FC) is crucial for daily activities and relies on cardiorespiratory capacity, muscular conditioning, flexibility, and balance. Coronary artery disease (CAD) can impair FC and quality of life. Cardiac Rehabilitation and exercise interventions improve FC, the disease pathophysiology, and help prevent future cardiovascular events. To our knowledge, no meta-analytic research has studied the effects of exercise interventions on all FC components in patients with CAD. PURPOSE: To determine the effect of exercise interventions on each component of FC in CAD patients using meta-analytic techniques. METHODS: This meta-analysis followed PRISMA guidelines. Two meta-analyses were performed, utilizing intra- and inter-group techniques on randomized controlled trials. Global effect sizes (ES) were calculated using the random effects model, with p < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval (CI 95%). Heterogeneity, inconsistency, risk of bias, and sensitivity analysis were performed for both meta-analytic techniques. RESULTS: In the intra-group meta-analysis, all global ES were statistically significant: cardiorespiratory capacity (ES = 0.80; CI95% = 0.67, 0.93; Q = 100.85 (p < 0.001); I2 = 65.38%), muscular conditioning (ES = 0.42; CI95% = 0.28, 0.56; Q = 57.13 (p < 0.001); I2 = 61.88%) balance (ES = 1.01; CI95% = 0.67, 1.34; Q = 77.81 (p < 0.001); I2 = 83.24%), and flexibility (ES = 0.44; CI95% = 0.24, 0.65; Q = 42.04 (p < 0.001); I2 = 66.67%). In the inter-group analysis, all global ES were statistically significant except for balance: cardiorespiratory capacity (ES = 0.81; CI95% = 0.48, 1.13; Q = 44.14 (p < 0.001); I2 = 77.21%), muscular conditioning (ES = 0.51; CI95% = 0.29, 0.73; Q = 7.59 (p = 0.37); I2 = 21.28%), balance (ES = 0.07; CI95% = -0.41, 0.57; Q = 32.37 (p < 0.001); I2 = 84.11%), and flexibility (ES = 0.64; CI95% = 0.42, 0.82; Q = 2.28 (p = 0.89); I2 = 0%). CONCLUSION: The intra-group meta-analysis of the experimental group confirms that exercise interventions significantly positively impact all FC components when comparing pre-test and post-test measurements. The inter-group analysis provides evidence that exercise intervention groups showed significantly higher improvements compared to control groups across all FC components, except for balance.