Fig. 3b Max oxygen uptake
Fig. 3a Max test load
447
0
3
Month after baseline
Control
CI
6
3
Month after baseline
Treatment
Control
CI
6
Treatment
Fig. 3d 6-minute walk
650
Fig. 3c 5-repetition sit to stand test
0
0
3
Month after baseline
Control
CI
6
Patient education and physical training for patients with AF
0
3
Month after baseline
Treatment
Control
CI
6
Treatment
Fig. 3a–d. Results from physical tests for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) randomized to participate in a 12-week rehabilitation programme
including physical exercise and education vs usual care at baseline and 3 and 6 months after inclusion in the study. Shown with 95% confidence
intervals (95% CI). (a) Maximum exercise capacity; (b) maximum O2 uptake; (c) Five-repetition-sit-to-stand test; (d) 6-min walk test.
not change the results of the physical tests significantly,
but wider confidence intervals were observed.
Plots of residuals showed no violations of model as-
sumptions. Sensitivity analyses confirmed our findings.
Hence, the conclusions did not depend on a normal
distribution of data or variance/covariance structure of
data. Stratification by physical capacity at baseline, age,
sex and type of AF did not differ from the main results.
Table III. Results of physical score tests at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. The first column with p-values stems from the unpaired
comparison between treatment groups at baseline. The subsequent p-values stem from unpaired comparisons of changes from baseline
Baseline
Physical score test
Maximum exercise capacity, Watt
O 2 uptake, ml/kg/min
5-repetition-sit-to-stand test, s
6-min walk test, m
No patients experienced adverse events during
training.
During the study period, 38 patients had at least one
readmission for cardiac reasons, mostly AF (rehabilita-
tion group: 20 and control group: 18), 25 had at least
one direct current cardioversion (rehabilitation group:
13 and control group: 12) and 11 had a radiofrequency
ablation (rehabilitation group: 7 and control group:
Mean (SD)
Control
Intervention
Control
Intervention
Control
Intervention
Control
Intervention
204 (68)
176 (48)
31.7 (8.3)
29.0 (7.3)
7.8 (2.4)
9.2 (3.2)
596 104.3)
613 (96)
3 months
p-value
0.073
0.200
0.058
0.951
Mean (SD)
206 (68)
189 (56)
31.8 (8.7)
30.1 (7.7)
7.8 (2.6)
7.8 (2.5)
630 (100)
608 (104)
6 months
p-value
0.012*
0.125
0.011*
0.138
Mean (SD)
193 (65)
190 (55)
30.8 (8.8)
31.1 (7.4)
6.9 (2.1)
7.8 (3.1)
637 (104)
644 84)
p-value
0.026*
0.079
0.490
0.734
*p-values from analysis of variance (ANOVA) test of difference between groups from baseline to time-point.
SD: standard deviation.
J Rehabil Med 51, 2019