Effect of cardiac rehabilitation on metabolic syndrome and its components: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Although the effect of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) prognosis has been well-documented by several systematic reviews, none have focused on the effect of CR on metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its related components. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of CR on MetS and its components. Materials and Methods: PubMed, SCOPUS, Cochrane library, and Google Scholar database were searched up to February 2014 with no date and language restrictions. The random effects model was used to assess the overall effect of CR on MetS prevalence and the change in metabolic or anthropometric measures. Results: Fifteen studies with 19,324 subjects were included in the present systematic review and meta-analysis. Our analysis showed that the CR could significantly reduce MetS prevalence [reduction rate: 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.21, 0.3, P value <0.001; P value for heterogeneity <0.001, I-squared: 86.2%]. Additionally, results showed the protective role of CR on all MetS components including high density lipoprotein cholesterol [mean difference (MD): 2.13 mg/dL, 95% CI: 1.17, 3.1], triglyceride (MD: -27.45 mg/dL, 95% CI: −36.92, −17.98), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (MD: −6.20 mmHg, 95% CI: -8.41, −3.99), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (MD: −2.53 mmHg, 95% CI: −3.64, −1.41), fasting blood sugar (FBS) (MD: −6.42 mg/dL, 95% CI: −6.85, −5.99), and waist circumference (WC) (MD: −2.25 cm, 95% CI: −3.15, −1.35). Conclusion: CR has resulted in improvement in MetS and its entire components, and could be considered as a useful tool for MetS patients, especially among those with CVD.