BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) restricts the ability to engage in physical activity and decreases longevity. We examined the impact of aerobic exercise training on function and quality of life in patients with WHO group 1 PH. METHODS: Patients were randomized to a 10 week education only (EDU) or education/exercise combined program (EXE). The exercise program consisted of 24-30 sessions of treadmill walking for 30 to 45 minutes per session at 70 to 80% of heart rate reserve. Outcome variables included changes in 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance, time to exercise intolerance and peak work rate (WR) from a cardiopulmonary treadmill test, and quality of life measures including the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36v2) and Cambridge Pulmonary Hypertension Outcome Review (CAMPHOR). RESULTS: Twenty-three women (age 54 +/- 11 years (mean +/- SD); BMI 31 +/- 7 kg/m2) were randomized to EDU (n = 13) or EXE (n = 10). Following 10-weeks of intervention, patients in EXE demonstrated an improvement in 6MWT distance (56 +/- 45 m, p = 0.002), increased time to exercise intolerance (1.9 +/- 1.3 min, p = 0.001) and peak WR (26 +/- 23 W, p = 0.004). Additionally, the EXE group scored significantly (p < 0.050) better in 6 of the 8 scales on SF-36v2, and 5 of the 6 scales on CAMPHOR. In contrast, no significant improvement was observed for any of the outcome measures following EDU. No adverse events were noted in either group. CONCLUSION: Ten weeks of brisk treadmill walking improved 6MWT distance, cardiorespiratory function and patient reported quality of life in female patients with group 1 PH. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00678821).

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