Abstract:

Objective: Physical inactivity, an important risk factor for coronary artery disease, should be increased after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of early physical acitivity (PA) counseling in CABG patients. Material and Method: Thirty male patients included in the study were randomly divided into two groups. Fifteen patients received PA counseling and routine physiotherapy, while the others received only standard physiotherapy. PA, exercise capacity, daily living activities, sleep quality, depression, and anxiety were assessed before and two weeks after surgery. All patients received an activity monitor (MF-SenseWear Armband) upon discharge for PA and energy expenditure evaluation. Energy expenditure, average MET, PA duration, laying and sleeping time, and daily steps were monitored for seven days after discharge. Results: The 6-minute walking distance decreased from 507.87±77.70 m to 470.46±69.83 m in the PA group (p=0.001) and from 499.80±82.93 m to 448.00±64.25 m in the control group (p=0.002), but the difference was not significant (p=0.610). PA counseling did not significantly affect total energy expenditure (8516.10±1489.75 vs. 8568.75±999.68 joules, p=0.910), active energy expenditure (307.43 joules (min 13.57- max 3300.57) vs. 303.68 joules (min 30.71-max 11.68), p=0.412), mean metabolic equivalent (1.30±0.16 vs 1.17±0.17, p=0.057), PA duration (16.57 minutes (min 0.71-max 180) vs 16.85 minutes (min 3.57-max 58.71), p=0.367), the number of steps (723.86 steps (min 198.57-max 5944.14) vs 796.28 (min73.86-max 4217.86), p=1.000). Conclusion: Our PA counseling did not improve PA and clinical outcomes after CABG surgery more than conventional treatment. Longer follow-ups are needed to demonstrate efficacy.

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