Effects of electrical muscle stimulation on physical function in frail older patients with acute heart failure: a randomized controlled trial
Shinya Tanaka, Kentaro Kamiya, Yuya Matsue, Ryusuke Yonezawa, Hiroshi Saito, Nobuaki Hamazaki, Ryota Matsuzawa, Kohei Nozaki, Masashi Yamashita, Kazuki Wakaume, Yoshiko Endo, Emi Maekawa, Minako Yamaoka‐Tojo, Takaaki Shiono, Takayuki Inomata, Junya Ako
Abstract
With the aging of the world’s population, frailty, defined as reduced physiological reserve and vulnerability to stressors, is becoming an increasingly important issue in cardiovascular medicine in older patients.1,2 Acute heart failure (AHF) is a leading cause of hospitalization worldwide and is associated with frailty, reduced quality of life (QOL), and increased medical costs.3 In older AHF patients, frailty is a strong predictor of early disability, re-admission, and mortality.4 Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) is a method of safely inducing muscle contraction that does not require volitional effort on the part of the patient and does not evoke dyspnoea.5 Short-term lower limb EMS was suggested to improve muscle strength, exercise capacity, and health-related QOL in hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients, these studies included few older patients.6,7 We performed a multicentre, randomized controlled trial called The Effects of Acute Phase Intensive Electrical Muscle...