Pulmonary Rehabilitation Effects on Heart Rate Recovery in Restrictive Lung Disease Patients

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate heart rate recovery in subjects with restrictive lung disease (RLD) and healthy age matched subjects before and after a rehabilitation program (RP). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study on subjects of both genders, with over 40 years old with and without any diagnosis of restrictive lung disease and who were able to perform physical tasks were included in the study. They were evaluated for sociodemographic profile, lifestyle (ILP), Framingham score, physical capacity (6MWT and treadmill incremental testing) and heart rate recovery before and after RP. Results: 65 subjects were assigned into either G1 (patients with RLD, n=26) or G2 (healthy subjects, n= 39). Initially, patients with RLD increased their heart rate (HR) from 79 to 120bpm, and after the recovery post-exercise, the first minute they reduced HR by nine beats. In the fifth minute after the exercise, HR returned to baseline values. After the RP, mean HR was 71bpm and 79bpm in G1 and G2, respectively. Increased mean 6MWT peak HR in both the groups was seen (110bpm and 120bpm, G1 and G2, respectively). In the first minute of resting, mean HR decreased to 86bpm (- 24bpm) and 72 (-48bpm) in G1 and G2, respectively. In the fifth minute after exercise, HR recovery in both the groups was complete. Conclusion: The RP was effective in improving the first-minute heart rate recovery in patients with restrictive lung disease and, there was an inverse correlation of heart rate recovery with disease severity.