PURPOSE: Because only one-third of eligible patients participate in formal cardiac rehabilitation, home-based programs constitute a suitable alternative. We examined effectiveness of a minimal educational intervention on patient fitness and activity levels through the use of simple motivational tools including verbal encouragement and the provision of a booklet containing exercise guidelines and exercise diary. METHODS: We enrolled 186 patients (age 60 to 78 years; mean age 69 years; 140 men) who were admitted to the outpatient clinic of Warsaw Institute of Cardiology in 2007 to 2009 after acute myocardial infarction. Of these, 61.3% had coronary angioplasty with stenting and 30.7% had coronary artery bypass. Patients were randomly assigned into an intervention group receiving minimal educational intervention or control. At baseline and 3 months, assessment was made of cardiopulmonary fitness and autonomic tone with exercise testing. Leisure-time physical activity and atherosclerosis risk factors were assessed at baseline and after 3 and 12 months. RESULTS: At baseline, exercise test results and leisure-time activity levels were not significantly different between groups. After 3 months, we noted statistically significant differences in exercise test responses between the intervention group versus control: peak workload 57.3 +/- 2.3 versus 47.2 +/- 2.2 kJ (p < 0.04) and heart rate recovery 26.5 +/- 3.3 versus 23.7 +/- 4.2 bpm (p < 0.001). Leisure-time activity was greater in the intervention group than in control, 3.9 versus 2.3 h/wk (p < 0.001). Improvement in atherosclerosis risk factors during the course of the study was similar between groups. CONCLUSION: Minimal educational intervention is an effective and safe form of promoting physical activity in older patients after myocardial infarction.
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