Postoperative exercise rehabilitation benefits children with congenital heart disease.

Physical fitness was assessed in children with congenital heart disease using seven tests designed to measure cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility and co-ordination. Test scores for age-matched healthy children were significantly higher than preoperative scores for patients. Postoperatively, the patients were divided into a control group and a physical training group. The training group was subsequently divided into compliant and non-compliant subgroups. Patients who complied with a simple six-week home program of physical activity training after surgery improved their test scores significantly (p less than .001) and were not significantly different from normal children. The scores of the non-compliant group remained below normal (p less than .01). When retested six months postop, the scores of all patient groups had improved; however, while there was no significant difference between the healthy and compliant groups, the scores of the non-compliant and control groups remained significantly below those of the healthy children (p less than .01).