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BackgroundInterpretation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) results requires thorough understanding of test confounders such as anthropometrics, comorbidities and medication. Here, we comprehensively assessed the clinical determinants of cardiorespiratory fitness and its components in a heterogeneous patient sample. MethodsWe retrospectively collected medical and CPET data from 2320 patients (48.2% females) referred for cycle ergometry at the University Hospital Leuven, Belgium. We assessed clinical determinants of peak CPET indexes of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and its hemodynamic and ventilatory components using stepwise regression and quantified multivariable-adjusted differences in indexes between cases and references. ResultsLower peak load and peak O-2 uptake were related to: higher age, female sex, lower body height and weight, and higher heart rate; to the intake of beta blockers, analgesics, thyroid hormone replacement and benzodiazepines; and to diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation (p < 0.05 for all). Lower peak load also correlated with obstructive pulmonary diseases. Stepwise regression revealed associations of hemodynamic and ventilatory indexes (including heart rate, O-2 pulse, systolic blood pressure and ventilation at peak exercise and ventilatory efficiency) with age, sex, body composition and aforementioned diseases and medications. Multivariable-adjusted differences in CPET metrics between cases and controls confirmed the associations observed. ConclusionWe described known and novel associations of CRF components with demographics, anthropometrics, cardiometabolic and pulmonary diseases and medication intake in a large patient sample. The clinical implications of long-term noncardiovascular drug intake for CPET results require further investigation., Funding Agencies|Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [1225021N, 1S07421N, G0C5319N]; KU Leuven [C24M/21/025, DB/22/010/BM]; Onderzoeksraad

Luis Alcocer (Mexico), Christina Antza (Greece), Mustafa Arici (Turkey), Eduardo Barbosa (Brazil), Adel Berbari (Lebanon), Luís Bronze (Portugal), John Chalmers (Australia), Tine De Backer (Belgium), Alejandro de la Sierra (Spain), Kyriakos Dimitriadis (Greece), Dorota Drozdz (Poland), Béatrice Duly-Bouhanick (France), Brent M. Egan (USA), Serap Erdine (Turkey), Claudio Ferri (Italy), Slavomira Filipova (Slovak Republic), Anthony Heagerty (UK), Michael Hecht Olsen (Denmark), Dagmara Hering (Poland), Sang Hyun Ihm (South Korea), Uday Jadhav (India), Manolis Kallistratos (Greece), Kazuomi Kario (Japan), Vasilios Kotsis (Greece), Adi Leiba (Israel), Patricio López-Jaramillo (Colombia), Hans-Peter Marti (Norway), Terry McCormack (UK), Paolo Mulatero (Italy), Dike B. Ojji (Nigeria), Sungha Park (South Korea), Priit Pauklin (Estonia), Sabine Perl (Austria), Arman Postadzhian (Bulgaria), Aleksander Prejbisz (Poland), Venkata Ram (India), Ramiro Sanchez (Argentina), Markus Schlaich (Australia), Alta Schutte (Australia), Cristina Sierra (Spain), Sekib Sokolovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Jonas Spaak (Sweden), Dimitrios Terentes-Printzios (Greece), Bruno Trimarco (Italy), Thomas Unger (The Netherlands), Bert-Jan van den Born (The Netherlands), Anna Vachulova (Slovak Republic), Agostino Virdis (Italy), Jiguang Wang (China), Ulrich Wenzel (Germany), Paul Whelton (USA), Jiri Widimsky (Czech Republic), Jacek Wolf (Poland), Grégoire Wuerzner (Switzerland), Eugene Yang (USA), Yuqing Zhang (China).

A key factor to successful secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is optimal patient adherence to treatment. However, unsatisfactory rates of adherence to treatment for CVD risk factors and CVD have been observed consistently over the last few decades. Hence, achieving optimal adherence to lifestyle measures and guideline-directed medical therapy in secondary prevention and rehabilitation is a great challenge to many healthcare professionals. Therefore, in this European Association of Preventive Cardiology clinical consensus document, a modern reappraisal of the adherence to optimal treatment is provided, together with simple, practical, and feasible suggestions to achieve this goal in the clinical setting, focusing on evidence-based concepts.

Luis Alcocer (Mexico), Christina Antza (Greece), Mustafa Arici (Turkey), Eduardo Barbosa (Brazil), Adel Berbari (Lebanon), Luís Bronze (Portugal), John Chalmers (Australia), Tine De Backer (Belgium), Alejandro de la Sierra (Spain), Kyriakos Dimitriadis (Greece), Dorota Drozdz (Poland), Béatrice Duly-Bouhanick (France), Brent M. Egan (USA), Serap Erdine (Turkey), Claudio Ferri (Italy), Anthony Heagerty (UK), Slavomira Filipova (Slovak Republic), Michael Hecht Olsen (Denmark), Dagmara Hering (Poland), Uday Jadhav (India), Manolis Kallistratos (Greece), Kazuomi Kario (Japan), Vasilios Kotsis (Greece), Adi Leiba (Israel), Patricio López-Jaramillo (Colombia), Hans-Peter Marti (Norway), Terry McCormack (UK), Paolo Mulatero (Italy), Dike B. Ojji (Nigeria), Sungha Park (South Korea), Priit Pauklin (Estonia), Sabine Perl (Austria), Arman Postadzhian (Bulgaria), Aleksander Prejbisz (Poland), Venkata Ram (India), Ramiro Sanchez (Argentina), Markus Schlaich (Australia), Alta Schutte (Australia), Cristina Sierra (Spain), Sekib Sokolovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Jonas Spaak (Sweden), Dimitrios Terentes-Printzios (Greece), Bruno Trimarco (Italy), Thomas Unger (The Netherlands), Bert-Jan van den Born (The Netherlands), Anna Vachulova (Slovak Republic), Agostino Virdis (Italy), Jiguang Wang (China), Ulrich Wenzel (Germany), Paul Whelton (USA), Jiri Widimsky (Czech Republic), Jacek Wolf (Poland), Grégoire Wuerzner (Switzerland), Eugene Yang (USA), Yuqing Zhang (China).

A proper determination of the exercise intensity is important for the rehabilitation of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) since it affects the effectiveness and medical safety of exercise training. In 2013, the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), together with the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation, published a position statement on aerobic exercise intensity assessment and prescription in cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR). Since this publication, many subsequent papers were published concerning the determination of the exercise intensity in CR, in which some controversies were revealed and some of the commonly applied concepts were further refined. Moreover, how to determine the exercise intensity during resistance training was not covered in this position paper. In light of these new findings, an update on how to determine the exercise intensity for patients with CVD is mandatory, both for aerobic and resistance exercises. In this EAPC position paper, it will be explained in detail which objective and subjective methods for CR exercise intensity determination exist for aerobic and resistance training, together with their (dis)advantages and practical applications.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a multidisciplinary intervention including patient assessment and medical actions to promote stabilization, management of cardiovascular risk factors, vocational support, psychosocial management, physical activity counselling, and prescription of exercise training. Millions of people with cardiac implantable electronic devices live in Europe and their numbers are progressively increasing, therefore, large subsets of patients admitted in CR facilities have a cardiac implantable electronic device. Patients who are cardiac implantable electronic devices recipients are considered eligible for a CR programme. This is not only related to the underlying heart disease but also to specific issues, such as psychological adaptation to living with an implanted device and, in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients, the risk of arrhythmia, syncope, and sudden cardiac death. Therefore, these patients should receive special attention, as their needs may differ from other patients participating in CR. As evidence from studies of CR in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices is sparse, detailed clinical practice guidelines are lacking. Here, we aim to provide practical recommendations for CR in cardiac implantable electronic devices recipients in order to increase CR implementation, efficacy, and safety in this subset of patients.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a multidisciplinary intervention including patient assessment and medical actions to promote stabilization, management of cardiovascular risk factors, vocational support, psychosocial management, physical activity counselling, and prescription of exercise training. Millions of people with cardiac implantable electronic devices live in Europe and their numbers are progressively increasing, therefore, large subsets of patients admitted in CR facilities have a cardiac implantable electronic device. Patients who are cardiac implantable electronic devices recipients are considered eligible for a CR programme. This is not only related to the underlying heart disease but also to specific issues, such as psychological adaptation to living with an implanted device and, in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients, the risk of arrhythmia, syncope, and sudden cardiac death. Therefore, these patients should receive special attention, as their needs may differ from other patients participating in CR. As evidence from studies of CR in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices is sparse, detailed clinical practice guidelines are lacking. Here, we aim to provide practical recommendations for CR in cardiac implantable electronic devices recipients in order to increase CR implementation, efficacy, and safety in this subset of patients.

Isometric handgrip exercise (IHG) triggers acute increases in cardiac output to meet the metabolic demands of the active skeletal muscle. An abnormal cardiovascular response to IHG might reflect early stages of cardiovascular disease. In a large community-based cohort, we comprehensively assessed the clinical correlates of acute cardiovascular changes during IHG. In total, 333 randomly recruited subjects (mean age, 53 +/- 13 years, 45% women) underwent simultaneous echocardiography and finger applanation tonometry at rest and during 3 min of IHG at 40% maximal handgrip force. We calculated time-domain measures of short-term heart rate variability (HRV) from finger pulse intervals. We assessed the adjusted associations of changes in blood pressure (BP) and echocardiographic indexes with clinical characteristics and HRV measures. During IHG, men presented a stronger absolute increase in heart rate, diastolic BP, left ventricular (LV) volumes and cardiac output than women, even after adjustment for covariables. In adjusted continuous and categorical analyses, age correlated positively with the increase in systolic BP and pulse pressure, but negatively with the increase in LV stroke volume and cardiac output during exercise. After full adjustment, a greater increase in systolic and diastolic BP during exercise was associated with lower absolute real variability (P amp;lt;= 0.026) and root mean square of successive differences (P amp;lt;= 0.032) in pulse intervals at rest. In a general population sample, women presented a weaker cardiovascular response to IHG than men. Older age was associated with greater rise in BP pulsatility and diminished cardiac reserve. Low HRV at rest predicted a higher BP increase during isometric exercise., Funding Agencies|Internal Funds KU Leuven [PDM/19/153]; Research Foundation FlandersFWO [G.0880.13, 11Z0916N, G0C5319N]

peer-reviewed, Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of premature death worldwide. International guidelines recommend routine delivery of all phases of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Uptake of traditional CR remains suboptimal, as attendance at formal hospital-based CR programs is low, with community-based CR rates and individual long-term exercise maintenance even lower. Home-based CR programs have been shown to be equally effective in clinical and health-related quality of life outcomes and yet are not readily available. The aim of the current study was to develop the PATHway intervention (physical activity toward health) for the self-management of CVD. Increasing physical activity in individuals with CVD was the primary behavior. The PATHway intervention was theoretically informed by the behavior change wheel and social cognitive theory. All relevant intervention functions, behavior change techniques, and policy categories were identified and translated into intervention content. Furthermore, a person-centered approach was adopted involving an iterative codesign process and extensive user testing. Education, enablement, modeling, persuasion, training, and social restructuring were selected as appropriate intervention functions. Twenty-two behavior change techniques, linked to the six intervention functions and three policy categories, were identified for inclusion and translated into PATHway intervention content. This paper details the use of the behavior change wheel and social cognitive theory to develop an eHealth intervention for the self-management of CVD. The systematic and transparent development of the PATHway intervention will facilitate the evaluation of intervention effectiveness and future replication., peer-reviewed

peer-reviewed, BACKGROUND: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is highly effective as secondary prevention for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Uptake of CR remains suboptimal (30% of eligible patients), and long-term adherence to a physically active lifestyle is even lower. Innovative strategies are needed to counteract this phenomenon. OBJECTIVE: The Physical Activity Toward Health (PATHway) system was developed to provide a comprehensive, remotely monitored, home-based CR program for CVD patients. The PATHway-I study aimed to investigate its feasibility and clinical efficacy during phase III CR. METHODS: Participants were randomized on a 1:1 basis to the PATHway (PW) intervention group or usual care (UC) control group in a single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled pilot trial. Outcomes were assessed at completion of phase II CR and 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was physical activity (PA; Actigraph GT9X link). Secondary outcomes included measures of physical fitness, modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, endothelial function, intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery, and quality of life. System usability and patients' experiences were evaluated only in PW. A mixed-model analysis of variance with Bonferroni adjustment was used to analyze between-group effects over time. Missing values were handled by means of an intention-to-treat analysis. Statistical significance was set at a 2-sided alpha level of .05. Data are reported as mean (SD). RESULTS: A convenience sample of 120 CVD patients (mean 61.4 years, SD 13.5 years; 22 women) was included. The PATHway system was deployed in the homes of 60 participants. System use decreased over time and system usability was average with a score of 65.7 (SD 19.7; range 5-100). Moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA increased in PW (PW: 127 [SD 58] min to 141 [SD 69] min, UC: 146 [SD 66] min to 143 [SD 71] min; Pinteraction=.04; effect size of 0.42), while diastolic blood pressure (PW: 79 [SD 11] mmHg to 79 [SD 10] mmHg, UC: 78 [S, PUBLISHED, peer-reviewed

Background: Exercise-based rehabilitation plays a key role in improving the health and quality of life of patients with Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Home-based computer-assisted rehabilitation programs have the potential to facilitate and support physical activity interventions and improve health outcomes. Objectives: We present the development and evaluation of a computerized Decision Support System (DSS) for unsupervised exercise rehabilitation at home, aiming to show the feasibility and potential of such systems toward maximizing the benefits of rehabilitation programs. Methods: The development of the DSS was based on rules encapsulating the logic according to which an exercise program can be executed beneficially according to international guidelines and expert knowledge. The DSS considered data from a prescribed exercise program, heart rate from a wristband device, and motion accuracy from a depth camera, and subsequently generated personalized, performance-driven adaptations to the exercise program. Communication interfaces in the form of RESTful web service operations were developed enabling interoperation with other computer systems. Results: The DSS was deployed in a computer-assisted platform for exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation at home, and it was evaluated in simulation and real-world studies with CVD patients. The simulation study based on data provided from 10 CVD patients performing 45 exercise sessions in total, showed that patients can be trained within or above their beneficial HR zones for 67.1 +/- 22.1% of the exercise duration in the main phase, when they are guided with the DSS. The real-world study with 3 CVD patients performing 43 exercise sessions through the computer-assisted platform, showed that patients can be trained within or above their beneficial heart rate zones for 87.9 +/- 8.0% of the exercise duration in the main phase, with DSS guidance. Conclusions: Computerized decision support systems can guide patients to the beneficia, ACCEPTED, peer-reviewed

The benefit of regular physical activity and exercise training for the prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases is undisputed. Many molecular mechanisms mediating exercise effects have been deciphered. Personalised exercise prescription can help patients in achieving their individual greatest benefit from an exercise-based cardiovascular rehabilitation programme. Yet, we still struggle to provide truly personalised exercise prescriptions to our patients. In this position paper, we address novel basic and translational research concepts that can help us understand the principles underlying the inter-individual differences in the response to exercise, and identify early on who would most likely benefit from which exercise intervention. This includes hereditary, non-hereditary and sex-specific concepts. Recent insights have helped us to take on a more holistic view, integrating exercise-mediated molecular mechanisms with those influenced by metabolism and immunity. Unfortunately, while the outline is recognisable, many details are still lacking to turn the understanding of a concept into a roadmap ready to be used in clinical routine. This position paper therefore also investigates perspectives on how the advent of ‘big data’ and the use of animal models could help unravel interindividual responses to exercise parameters and thus influence hypothesis-building for translational research in exercisebased cardiovascular rehabilitation.