Exercise program for patients after cardiac surgery.

The effects of an exercise program on patients after cardiac surgery were studied. The physical status and length of hospitalization of 44 patients who were not exposed to the program (group I) were compared with those of 43 program participants (group II). All patients were evaluated preoperatively and before hospital discharge. Whereas 24 of the patients in group I scored lower at discharge than preoperatively on an assessment of functional activity, only 9 from group II did so (p = 0.001). Fewer patients in group I than in group II increased their performance in a test of distance walking. Patients in group I lost significantly more (p = 0.03) range of motion in upper and lower extremities than did patients in group II. The mean length of hospitalization for patients in group II was shorter than for those in group I by 1.9 days (p less than 0.001). In summary, the exercise program reduced the prevalence of activity morbidity incident to hospitalization for cardiac surgery, and was associated with a reduced length of stay.