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ArticlePhysiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy2026

Effects of Intensive Early Physiotherapy Intervention After Myocardial Infarction on Quality of Life, Anxiety and Depression Scores: A Controlled Clinical Trial.

Kinga Balla, Karl K Haase, Alexander Wick

Abstract readControlled Clinical Trial
In one paragraph

Article in Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kinga BallaDepartment of Physiotherapy, Kreiskliniken Reutlingen gGmbH, Reutlingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5569-3487
Karl K HaaseDepartment of Internal Medicine II, Kreiskliniken Reutlingen gGmbH, Reutlingen, Germany.
Alexander WickDepartment of Internal Medicine II, Kreiskliniken Reutlingen gGmbH, Reutlingen, Germany.

Funding

Kreiskliniken Reutlingen gGmbH
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeEarly mobilisation after myocardial infarction (MI) is strongly recommended. However, evidence regarding the benefits of structured physiotherapy during the acute in-hospital phase remains limited. This controlled clinical trial (CCT) aimed to evaluate whether an intensive early physiotherapy programme could improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological well-being.

methodsThis CCT included 172 adults hospitalised after MI and treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The participants were quasi-randomly allocated (1:1) to the intervention or control group based on the hospital room number. They received either an intensive physiotherapy programme (daily supervised mobilisation, education and graded activity) or standard medical care and an informational flyer. Primary outcomes included HRQoL (MacNew) and psychological well-being (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS-D). Clinically important changes were evaluated using the standardised response mean (SRM, which reflects the clinical relevance of observed changes), and the minimal clinically important difference (MCID, the smallest change in an outcome perceived as important by patients). Statistical analysis was conducted to assess group-by-time and pre-post interaction effects.

resultsClinical significance metrics: The intervention group showed less deterioration in overall HRQoL (SRM: 0.04 vs. 0.1) and an enhancement in the MacNew emotional subscale (SRM: 0.22 vs. 0.09) compared with the control group. The HADS-D improved to a greater extent in the intervention group, exceeding the MCID (1.7 points). There were no statistically significant interaction effects between groups by time (interaction factor group * factor time; HRQoL p = 0.68 and anxiety/depression p = 0.15) or between the time points (pre-post, main effect factor time; HRQoL p = 0.35 and anxiety/depression p = 0.4). DISCUSSION: Clinically, intensive early in-hospital physiotherapy may lead to improved psychological outcomes and an attenuation of HRQoL decline. Although the change in HADS-D in the intervention group did not reach statistical significance, it exceeded the MCID, indicating a clinically meaningful improvement from the patients' perspective. The implementation of structured early mobilisation protocols may provide clinically relevant benefits during the acute post-PCI hospitalisation period and warrants further investigation. TRAIL REGISTRATION: Ethical approval was first submitted in January 2023, then resubmitted after minor revision in March 2023, and was then accepted on 15 March 2023 (Reg.Nr. K-2023-001).

Indexed as

AnxietyDepressionMyocardial InfarctionPhysical Therapy ModalitiesQuality of LifeAgedEarly AmbulationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPercutaneous Coronary InterventionTreatment Outcomeacute myocardial infarctionanxiety and depressionphysiotherapyquality of life

Identifiers

PMID42541455
PMCPMC13428498

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.