The effects of exercise training programs on psychosocial improvement in uncomplicated postmyocardial infarction patients.

To determine the effects of exercise training programs on psychosocial improvement in uncomplicated postmyocardial infarction patients, 210 male patients hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction (MI) were randomized to three week symptom limited treadmill (TM) plus home exercise training, TM plus medically supervised gym training, TM without formal exercise program or control, where patients were seen only at six months post MI. Patients in this sample were at low risk for psychosocial disturbance (13% were moderate to severely depressed, 23% reported marital disturbance and 3% were extremely anxious). Patients in the training groups improved from 3 to 26 weeks post MI on all depression and anxiety measures. The gym training group showed a significant reduction on one depression measure compared to no training and on one anxiety measure compared to controls.