IJCS | Volume 31, Nº6, November / December 2018

DOI: 10.5935/2359-4802.20180071 619 ORIGINAL ARTICLE International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2018;31(6)619-629 Mailing Address: Ana Paula Coelho Figueira Freire Departamento de Fisioterapia, UNOESTE - José Bongiovani, 700. Postal Code: 19050-920, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo - Brazil. E-mail: anapcff@hotmail.com Effects of Conventional and Virtual Reality Cardiovascular Rehabilitation in Body Composition and Functional Capacity of Patients with Heart Diseases: Randomized Clinical Trial João Pedro Lucas Neves Silva, Luiz Felipe Marques Novaes, Lorrany Caroline Rocha dos Santos, Bianca Pinhal Galindo, Margaret Assad Cavalcante, Bruna Corral Garcia de Araújo, Francis Lopes Pacagnelli, Ana Paula Coelho Figueira Freire Universidade do Oeste Paulista (UNOESTE), Presidente Prudente, SP - Brazil Manuscript received December 02, 2017; revised manuscript May 02, 2018; accepted June 18, 2018. Abstract Background: Virtual reality is an alternative therapeutic resource to be inserted into cardiovascular rehabilitation, stimulating the practice of physical activity through man-machine interaction. Objective: To compare the effects of conventional and virtual reality cardiac rehabilitation on body composition and functional capacity in patients with heart disease. Methods: Randomized clinical trial with 27 cardiac patients divided into conventional rehabilitation group (CRG) and virtual reality rehabilitation group (VRG). They underwent a rehabilitation program with 60-minute training sessions twice a week for eight weeks. The VRG training consisted of exercises from the Xbox 360 ® with Kinect™, using YourShape™ and Dance Central 3™ games. The CRG used conventional treadmills for aerobic exercise and free weights for resistance exercise. Bioimpedance and 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were evaluated at baseline and after training. For main outcome analysis, Student t and Mann Whitney tests were used with a 5% significance level. Results: The VRG showed a significant increase in body fat percentage and fat weight when compared to the CRG, and a smaller amount of total water. There was a significant improvement in functional capacity evidenced by the increase in the distance covered in the 6MWT (54.00 m and 32.25 m in the CRG and VRG, respectively), but the gains did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: The two rehabilitation modalities had no effect on the body composition of the groups. In addition, the improvement in functional capacity was similar in both groups. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2018;31(6)619-629) Keywords: Cardiovascular Diseases; Cardiac Rehabilitation; Physical Therapy Modalities; Body Composition; Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. Introduction Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a major cause of mortality worldwide, with approximately 17.5 million deaths, accounting for three in every ten deaths. 1 In Brazil, despite the progressive decline in deaths due to CVD, they remain the major cause of hospitalization and mortality, accounting for 31.3% of adult deaths. 2,3 Therefore, cardiovascular rehabilitation programs, by use of physical activity, are essential to improve cardiovascular function and aerobic capacity, in addition to providing psychological benefits, risk factor control, improvement in CVD symptoms and mortality reduction. 4-6 The advance of cardiovascular rehabilitation has witnessed the incorporation of technology to its methods, with virtual reality (VR) being included into physical therapy protocols 7,8 to boost physical activity practice 9 and encourage the rehabilitation process. 10 Virtual reality uses devices that promote man-machine integration,