Supervised exercise improves mental health and quality of life in people with coronary heart disease according to a study led by the University of Granada
Physical activity, especially through in-person programs, reduces depression and anxiety in these patients
Researchers from the Granada Biosanitary Research Institute (ibs.GRANADA) are participating in a study led by researchers from the University of Granada, carried out in collaboration with the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Radboud University Medical Center (Netherlands), in which they have shown that the context in which physical exercise is carried out plays a key role in improving the mental health and quality of life of patients with coronary disease. The result of the research, led by the research group of Professor Francisco B. Ortega, from the Faculty of Sports Sciences of the UGR, has been published in the European Heart Journal under the title Exercise type and settings, quality of life, and mental health in coronary artery disease: a network meta-analysis (Exercise types and environments, quality of life, and mental health in coronary artery disease: a network meta-analysis) in Spanish).
Scientists have analyzed 36 previous studies that evaluated different physical exercise programs applied to a total of 3.534 patients with coronary heart disease from around the world. Thanks to the use of an innovative method, known as network meta-analysis (Network Meta-analysis In a study conducted in the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2011, researchers compared the effects of different types of exercise, including strength training, moderate aerobic training, and high-intensity interval training. The results revealed that the context in which physical activity is performed, rather than the type of exercise, is crucial to maximizing the benefits on patients’ mental health and quality of life. In particular, in-person and supervised programs offered the greatest benefits, while home-based programs showed more modest results. This finding highlights the importance of designing exercise programs tailored to the context and with professional supervision, and the need to improve remote programs to maximize their mental benefits.
"This study shows that exercise not only improves physical and cardiac parameters, but also has a positive impact on patients' mental health," notes Professor Francisco B. Ortega of the University of Granada (UGR). However, Ortega also emphasizes an important gap in the scientific literature: "We have found a lack of studies that analyze other aspects of brain health, such as cognitive functions or changes in brain structure and function."
Furthermore, it is important to highlight that "patients with coronary artery disease have a higher risk of suffering from mental disorders compared to healthy people of the same age. This study argues that exercise can be a valuable tool to mitigate this risk, improving their quality of life and mental health," explains researcher Esmée A. Bakker, from the University of Granada (UGR), and one of the lead authors of the study.
The study is expected to have a great impact on the scientific community, and above all, direct implications at a clinical level. Previous work had concluded that physical exercise performed remotely, from home, or in person was equally effective in improving the quality of life of patients. However, “our study, including twice as many clinical trials and more advanced methodology, has shown that physical exercise performed in person and supervised is clearly superior to that performed at home without supervision,” says Ángel Toval, from the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Faculty of Sports Sciences at the UGR, and one of the researchers who led this work.
