Dynamics of anxiety, depression, and quality of life after early physical rehabilitation of patients who underwent surgical correction of acquired mitral valve defect: clinical prospective randomized study

BACKGROUND: The activation of the patient from the day after an acquired mitral valve (MV) defect with standard cardiorehabilitation surgery and further physical training at an early uncomplicated inpatient stage of the postoperative period appears promising to improve not only the functional status but also the quality of life (QL).

AIM: Our aim was to examine the effect of early physical rehabilitation on the dynamics of anxiety, depression, and QL in patients after surgical correction of the MV defect.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 80 patients (median age 60.8 [47.5; 69.0] years) who underwent surgical correction of an acquired MV defect. Starting from the 7th day after the surgery, patients were assessed for functional status, and the intensity of the training load was selected, and this was done again on the 24th day after the surgery. Moreover, the QL parameters on the SF-36 scale and levels of anxiety and depression on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were evaluated. The control group (n=47) underwent a standard cardiac rehabilitation program from 1st day after surgery. In the main group (n=33), based on the results of the cardiopulmonary exercise testing, physical training on a treadmill was initiated for 14 days, from the 8th day after the surgery, in addition to a personalized training program.

RESULTS: In addition to improving the functional state, early physical training improved the dynamics of QL indicators in the main group. After 14 days of treadmill training, the physical health component increased from a median of 35.1 to 64.4 (p=0.03), and the mental health component from a median of 49.1 to 82.1 (p=0.03). In addition, after the early physical rehabilitation program in the main group, the number of people without anxiety and depression, according to the HADS scale, significantly increased from 9% to 27.3% (p=0.04), whereas the dynamics of the QL, anxiety, and depression levels in the control group were not significant.

CONCLUSION: Early physical rehabilitation, including moderate-intensity workouts with an individual calculation of the speed / angle of the treadmill, starting from 8 days after surgical correction of the acquired MV defect demonstrated efficacy in improving the QL and reducing anxiety and depression levels 24 days after surgery.