Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Cardiac Rehabilitation and Health-Related Quality of Life in Preserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis
Authors' conclusion
This meta-analysis of RCT evidence shows that participation in ExCR provides important gains in HRQoL of people with HFpEF.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with heart failure preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) (EF ≥45% in 4 trials, ≥50% in 8 trials)
- Participants
- 1,005 adults12 randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
- Comparison
- ExCR vs no exercise control
- Outcome
- Health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
- Follow-up
- Median 16 weeks
Methodological detailsIncluded trials small, with substantial clinical and statistical heterogeneity
- Included trials small, with substantial clinical and statistical heterogeneity
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Disease-specific HRQoL
ExCR vs ControlWMD (95% CI)P value
MLHFQ total score
−6.72(−12.00 to −1.44)
P = 0.013KCCQ total score
5.34(1.75–8.93)
P < 0.0001Further pooled results
Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) total score, by trial characteristics (subgroup)
- Greater improvement with ExCR in trials with shorter exercise duration (<60 min/session), risk of bias, and larger sample size (>45 patients)
- P ≤ 0.05
Original publication
Cardiac Rehabilitation and Health-Related Quality of Life in Preserved Ejection Fraction Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis. ESC Heart Fail. Published 3 September 2025. doi:10.
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