Passino 2006

Methods	Parallel group RCT
Participants	N Randomised: 85 (training 44; control 41) Diagnosis (% of participants): * Aetiology: ischaemic 59%; DCM 41% NYHA: Class I 16%; Class II 69%; Class III 34% LVEF: training: 35% (SD 9.3); control 32.3 (SD 14.1) Case mix: 100% as above Age (yr): exercise 60 (SD 13); control 61 (SD 13) Male: 87% White: not reported Inclusion/exclusion criteria Inclusion: impaired left ventricular systolic function (EF < 45%) and exercise capacity (peak VO2 < 25 mL/min/kg) Exclusion: NYHA Class IV, MI or unstable angina < 6 months before the examination, exercise‐limiting diseases, and severe pulmonary or renal disease * baseline data only available for 85 participants
Interventions	Exercise:Total duration: 9 months Aerobic/resistance/mix: aerobic Frequency: > 3 sessions/wk Duration: 30 min/session Intensity: 65% max VO2 Modality: cycle Setting: home‐based Other: not reported
Outcomes	HRQoL (MLWHFQ) Morbidity
Comparison	Not reported
Country and setting	Italy Not reported
Follow‐up	9 months (after randomisation)
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Exercise test assessor blinded
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Intention‐to‐treat analysis?	Low risk	Although ITT not stated, groups appeared to be analysed according to original randomisation
Incomplete outcome data?	Low risk	Outcomes described in methods reported in results
Groups balanced at baseline?	Low risk	"The two groups did not differ as to age, gender, NYHA functional class, EF, pharmacologic treatment, or HF etiology (Table 1)"
Groups received same intervention?	Low risk	"Patients in [control] group underwent follow‐up visits at the third and ninth month to exclude changes in their usual lifestyle and physical activity"