Effects of a Dedicated Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Patients With Obesity on Body Weight, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Fitness: The OPTICARE XL Randomized Controlled Trial.
Iris den Uijl, Rita J G van den Berg-Emons, Madoka Sunamura and 7 others
PMID 37265452WHAT IT FOUND
A specialized 1-year cardiac rehab program for patients with obesity produced greater weight loss than standard care at 3 months, but this advantage disappeared by 6 months.
Neither program significantly improved physical activity or fitness compared to the other at the primary endpoint.
Key findings
01At 3 months, patients in the specialized OPTICARE XL program lost significantly more weight than those in standard cardiac rehab, but this difference was not maintained at 6 months.
02Neither program showed a significant advantage over the other for physical activity steps, sedentary behavior, or physical fitness outcomes at the 6-month primary endpoint.
03Both groups improved physical fitness (6-minute walk test and handgrip strength) within themselves, but there were no significant differences between the two treatment arms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The trial was open-label, which may have introduced bias. Accelerometer wear time and success rates differed between groups at baseline, potentially affecting activity data accuracy. The dropout rate was approximately 25%, which may impact the generalizability of the findings. The standard CR group received varying durations of treatment (6-12 weeks) compared to the fixed 1-year duration of the OPTICARE XL group, making direct comparison of 'dose' difficult. Participants may have been highly motivated due to the nature of the RCT recruitment.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Capri Cardiac Rehabilitation and the Dutch Organisation for Health Research and Development. The funders played no role in design, conduct, or reporting.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the specialized 1-year program is ineffective because the 6-month primary endpoint showed no difference. The program did achieve significantly greater weight loss at 3 months, indicating it works faster, but the benefit was not maintained. This suggests the intervention has potential if long-term adherence or aftercare strategies are improved.