Sex Differences in Physiological Responses after Cardiac Rehabilitation

Background and Purpose: Heart disease (HD) is one of the leading causes of death in men and women in Canada. Many HD patients are referred for cardiac rehabilitation (CR) which is a multidisciplinary outpatient supervised exercise program consisting of aerobic and resistance training to improve cardiovascular health. Previous studies have shown that healthy men and women respond differently to aerobic and resistance training. The purpose of this systematic review is to discover any physiological differences in male and female HD patient responses to a CR program. Methods and Results: A search strategy was generated to investigate at the relationships between heart disease patients, a supervised exercise program, physiological outcomes, and gender differences. Conclusions: This review presents that HD patients respond similarly in most physiological variables regardless of sex. Though, many studies discussing maximal oxygen consumption, functional capacity, six-minute walk distances, and grip strength strongly suggest that men benefit more.