Background: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is predicted to be the most common cause of death worldwide by 2020. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) as a secondary preventive measure can reduce the cardiac risk factors, mortality and morbidity, and improve the quality of life in such patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of an 8-week CR program on clinical and paraclinical findings of patients with IHD.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was performed on IHD patients referred to Kashan Shahid Beheshti hospital. Patients were allocated the two groups (rehabilitation and control). The rehabilitation group received an 8-week rehabilitation program the clinical and paraclinical evaluations were performed before and after the program.

Results: This study showed that body weight, BMI, HDL, TG, FBS, resting heart rate and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, quality of life, exercise capacity, maximal oxygen uptake during exercise and the numbers of recurrent hospitalization were significantly improved in the rehabilitation group (P<0.001). The rehabilitation program had no effect on the platelet count, frequency and duration of chest pain, total cholesterol, and LDL.

Conclusion: Using an 8-week cardiac rehabilitation program can be beneficial in the management of IHD patients and ultimately can reduce the risk factors of the heart diseases, improve the quality of life and reduce the risk of disease exacerbation.