Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesRandomised controlled trial
Improved performance after neuromuscular electrical stimulation in hospitalized patients with severe heart failure
- stratified and 1:1 randomized
Authors' conclusion
In this study, NMES was safely applied in patients with severe heart failure and electronic cardiac devices. Two weeks of NMES in addition to regular physiotherapeutic treatment had significant effects on functional performance measured by StimFIT5-Score, independent of sex and with the greatest benefits observed in the least fit patients .
Study context
- Population
- Hospitalized patients with severe heart failure, including patients with electronic cardiac devices48.0 ± 14.3 years, 19 males, 11 females
- Participants
- 30 patients
- Comparison
- STIM vs CON
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
StimFIT5-Score improvement · 2 weeks (T1)
STIM
+8.2 points, P < .001
CON
+3.6 points, P = .006
P = 0.002
Further findings
| Outcome | STIM | CON | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6MWT and SST improvement · T0 to T1 · 6-minute walking test; no significantly greater improvement | P = 0.087 | ||
| 6MWT | + 68 m, P < .001 | +35 m, P = .05 | |
| SST | +3.8 repetitions, P < .001 | +1.7 repetitions, P = .078 | P = 0.085 |
| PHQ9-Score improvement · no significant difference | −3.2 points, P < .001 | −2.4 points, P = .013 | P = 0.078 |
Percentage improvement in StimFIT5-Score, STIM-patients with low StimFIT5-Scores at baseline (subgroup)
- STIM-patients with low StimFIT5-Scores at baseline
- +53%
Sex-specific differences in STIM (subgroup)
- StimFIT5-Score
- P = 0.388
- 6MWT
- P = 0.685
- Sit-to-stand test (SST)
- P = 0.720
- both female and male patients showing significant improvements from T0 to T1
Original publication
Improved performance after neuromuscular electrical stimulation in hospitalized patients with severe heart failure. ESC Heart Fail. Published 19 January 2026. doi:10.1093/eschf/xvaf042
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it