Physical Activity and Physical Performance among Patients with Heart Failure in Indonesia

Abstract

Physical Activity and Physical Performance among Patients with Heart Failure in Indonesia ABSTRACT Background: Heart failure (HF) is a condition in which the heart cannot function properly and does not pump blood efficiently throughout the body This causes impaired physical performance and limitations in terms of physical activity (PA) Previous studies have shown that HF patients engage in a low level of PA and many factors can affect their degree of engagement However little is known about the patients’ physical performance related to doing day to day tasks before advising them to engage in PA Purpose: This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between physical performance and PA among patients with HF Method: A convenience sample of 155 heart failure patients was recruited from a cardiology outpatient department at a public hospital in Indonesia The short form of an International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) was used to assess PA and the 6MWT was applied to measure physical performance Descriptive statistics bivariate analyses (independent t-tests a one-way ANOVA and a Pearson correlation) and a multiple regression analysis were utilized to analyse the data Results: Of the 155 participants 57% were males and the mean age was 55 5 years old The mean duration since the HF diagnosis was 37 3 months with 91 (59%) in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II and 50 (32%) in class III The average walking distance was 333 55 meters with a mean total PA score (METs) of 598 52 METs More than half (64%) of participants had low PA levels The bivariate analysis showed that gender (t = -6 13 p < 001) education (t = 4 00 p < 001) atrial fibrillation (t = 2 03 p < 05) use of diuretics (t = 3 78 p < 001) NYHA functional class (F = 73 85 p < 001) and SpO2 (r = 28 p < 01) were significantly associated with physical performance Meanwhile PA was significantly associated with gender (t = -2 62 p < 05) education (t = 3 50 p < 01) SpO2 (r = 21 p < 05) and NYHA functional class (F = 32 67 p < 001) Physical performance was significantly associated with PA (r = 51 p < 001) However the multiple regression analysis showed only NYHA functional class (beta = - 42 t = -2 30 p = 003) to be significantly associated with PA Conclusion: Approximately 64% of the participants had low PA The study findings did not support the study hypothesis positing that physical performance was significantly associated with PA after adjusting for demographic- and illness-related factors When trying promote PA in patients with HF it is necessary to consider their disease severity (NYHA class) which is the most important factor affecting PA These findings can add to existing knowledge by highlighting several factors that need to be considered in order to design an effective program to increase physical activity among patients with HF Keywords: Physical activity Physical performance Heart failure 6-MWT

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Supervisor	Hsing-Mei Chen (Supervisor)