ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Endocrinologica 2010 March;35(1):1-7

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Effect of gender and type 2 diabetes mellitus on heart rate recovery in patients with coronary artery disease after cardiac rehabilitation

Soleimani A. ¹, Abbasi K. ¹, Nejatian M. ¹, Movahhedi N. ¹, Ali Hajizaynali M. ¹, Salehiomran A. ¹, Hesameddin Abbasi S. ¹, Alidoosti M. ¹, Sheikhfathollahi M. ¹, Abbasi A. ² ✉

¹ Department of Cardiology, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

AIM: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether type 2 diabetic patients with coronary disease are subject to similar benefits on heart rate recovery (HRR) as non-diabetic coronary individuals after cardiac rehabilitation, assessing separately male and female subjects separately.
METHODS: Data used for the analyses were from an eight-week phase II cardiac rehabilitation including 284 patients with ischemic heart disease who were managed at Tehran Heart Center between July 2004 and January 2006. The heart rate parameters were compared between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects before and after cardiac rehabilitation. Diabetic and non-diabetic patients had similar age and left ventricular ejection fraction.
RESULTS: Among men, non-diabetic patients achieved greater improvement in peak heart rate and HRR. Additionally, lower resting heart rate was found in non-diabetic men after rehabilitation. In women ≥50 years, there was no significant difference between diabetic and non-diabetic. The non-diabetic women <50 years showed significantly higher peak heart rate and HRR compared with diabetics women.
CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the benefit of cardiac rehabilitation in HRR is significantly lower in type 2 diabetic men. Improvement of HRR is not associated with diabetic status in women ≥50 years. The response to cardiac rehabilitation in women may appear to be more influenced by age at menopause rather than diabetes mellitus.