Zhongguo quanke yixue (Jul 2022)
Effect of CPET-based Precisely Prescribed Aerobic Exercise on Cardiopulmonary Fitness and Sleep Quality in Stroke Patients
Abstract
Background Cardiopulmonary problems will increase the risk of health harms yet they are often neglected in clinical rehabilitation treatment for stroke patients. In addition, sleep problems also often affect the rehabilitation effect in these patients, while routine drug treatment could not achieve satisfactory effect. Objective To assess the effect of precisely prescribed exercise on cardiopulmonary fitness and sleep quality in stroke patients. Methods Sixty-four stroke inpatients were recruited from Rehabilitation Department, Changzhou Dean Hospital from April 2020 to August 2021, and equally randomized into a control group and an experimental group. At baseline, cardiopulmonary fitness was assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) , and sleep quality was assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for both groups. Then control group received 12-week routine rehabilitation training, while experimental group received 12-week routine rehabilitation training plus aerobic exercise precisely prescribed based on baseline CPET parameters. Intra- and inter-group comparisons were made between pre- and post-training major CPET parameters, dyspnea and leg fatigue measured by the Borg Scale and sleep quality. Results At the end of training, the experimental group demonstrated higher peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) , percentage of predicted peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak%pred) , peak metabolic equivalent (METpeak) , peak heart rate (HRpeak) , peak load, and anaerobic threshold (AT) , and lower intensity of perceived dyspnea and leg fatigue than the control group (P<0.05) . The above-mentioned eight parameters improved significantly after training in the experimental group (P<0.05) . The experimental group had lower post-training scores of six domains (subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, daytime dysfunction) and lower post-training total score of PSQI than the control group (P<0.05) . The total score of PSQI and the scores of its seven domains were all lowered significantly when the training was finished (P<0.05) . Conclusion The precisely prescribed aerobic exercise by the results of CPET could effectively improve the cardiopulmonary fitness, exercise intensity, exercise endurance, and sleep quality as well as the sense of exercise fatigue in stroke patients.
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