Intensive Physical Rehabilitation for Patients with Decompensated Heart Failure

General physical frailty affects quality of life in patients with heart failure. In this multicenter study, 349 patients (mean age, 73) who were hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure were randomized to usual care or to an intensive 3-month physical rehabilitation program that focused on strength, balance, mobility, and endurance. Enrollment criteria included functional independence prior to hospitalization and expected discharge to home, but nearly all patients were categorized as frail or “prefrail.” The intervention was started during the heart failure hospitalization or shortly after discharge.

At 3 months, improvement in the primary outcome — a 12-point measure of global physical function — was significantly greater in the i…