Evaluating the interactive web-based program, activate your heart, for cardiac rehabilitation patients: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Conventional cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs are traditionally based on time-constrained, structured, group-based programs, usually set in hospitals or leisure centers. Uptake for CR remains poor, despite the ongoing evidence demonstrating its benefits. Additional alternative forms of CR are needed. An Internet-based approach may offer an alternative mode of delivering CR that may improve overall uptake. Activate Your Heart (AYH) is a Web-based CR program that has been designed to support individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot study was to observe the outcome for participants following the AYH program. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational trial, recruiting low-risk patients with CHD. Measures of exercise, exercise capacity, using the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT), dietary habits, and psychosocial well-being were conducted by a CR specialist at baseline and at 8 weeks following the Web-based intervention. RESULTS: We recruited 41 participants; 33 completed the program. We documented significant improvements in the ISWT distance (mean change 49.69 meters, SD 68.8, P<.001), and Quality of Life (QOL) (mean change 0.28, SD 0.4, P<.001). Dietary habits improved with an increased proportion of patients consuming at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, (22 [71%] to 29 [94%] P=.01) and an increased proportion of patients consuming at least 2 portions of oily fish per week (14 [45%] to 21 [68%], P=.01). We did not detect changes in anxiety and depression scores or exercise behavior. CONCLUSIONS: We observed important improvements in exercise capacity, QOL, and dietary habits in a group of participants following a Web-based CR program. The program may offer an alternative approach to CR. A mobile version has been developed and we need to conduct further trials to establish its value compared to supervised CR.

Interactive web-based pulmonary rehabilitation programme: a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine if an interactive web-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programme is a feasible alternative to conventional PR. DESIGN: Randomised controlled feasibility trial. SETTING: Participants with a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were recruited from PR assessments, primary care and community rehabilitation programmes. Patients randomised to conventional rehabilitation started the programme according to the standard care at their referred site on the next available date. PARTICIPANTS: 103 patients were recruited to the study and randomised: 52 to conventional rehabilitation (mean (±SD) age 66 (±8) years, Medical Research Council (MRC) 3 (IQR2-4)); 51 to the web arm (mean (±SD) age 66 (±10) years, MRC 3 (IQR2-4)). Participants had to be willing to participate in either arm of the trial, have internet access and be web literate. INTERVENTIONS: Patients randomised to the web-based programme worked through the website, exercising and recording their progress as well as reading educational material. Conventional PR consisted of twice weekly, 2 hourly sessions (an hour for exercise training and an hour for education). OUTCOME MEASURES: Recruitment rates, eligibility, patient preference and dropout and completion rates for both programmes were collected. Standard outcomes for a PR assessment including measures of exercise capacity and quality of life questionnaires were also evaluated. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement (p≤0.01) was observed within each group in the endurance shuttle walk test (WEB: mean change 189±211.1; PR classes: mean change 184.5±247.4 s) and Chronic Respiratory disease Questionnaire-Dyspnoea (CRQ-D; WEB: mean change 0.7±1.2; PR classes: mean change 0.8±1.0). However, there were no significant differences between the groups in any outcome. Dropout rates were higher in the web-based programme (57% vs 23%). CONCLUSIONS: An interactive web-based PR programme is feasible and acceptable when compared with conventional PR. Future trials maybe around choice-based PR programmes for select patients enabling stratification of patient care. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN03142263; Results.

The minimum clinically important improvement in the incremental shuttle walk test following cardiac rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND: The aim was to establish the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) in the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) following cardiac rehabilitation. DESIGN: This was a service evaluation, utilising anchor- and distribution-based methods. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty patients performed an ISWT following a six-week cardiac rehabilitation programme comprising supervised aerobic exercise, secondary prevention education and a home exercise programme. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Patient perception of change in ISWT distance following cardiac rehabilitation. After completing cardiac rehabilitation, subjects were asked to identify, from a five-point Likert scale, their perceived change in exercise performance (range: from 'better' to 'worse'). Two distribution-based methods were also employed (standard deviation (SD) and effect size). The agreement between all measures was observed. RESULTS: Mean (SD) age was 65.0 (10.5) years, body mass index 28.4 (5.1), 170 male. The baseline ISWT was 390.8 (173.1) metres (m), which increased to 456.0 (186.7) m (mean change 65.2 (95% confidence interval 55.4-74.9) m after cardiac rehabilitation (p < 0.001)). In those rating their exercise tolerance as 'slightly better', the mean improvement was 70.0 (95% confidence interval 51.5-88.5) m. The SD method yielded a minimum clinically important difference value of 36.65 m and the effect size for the change was 0.38. The agreement between the patients' perception of change and distribution-based methods was poor. CONCLUSIONS: The minimum clinically important difference for the ISWT following cardiac rehabilitation is 70 m. This patient-reported value is a more sensitive measure and has poor agreement with distribution-based estimates. This value may help clinicians interpret ISWT change in patients, help researchers estimate sample size and aid comparison between studies, when the ISWT is the primary outcome.

The evaluation of an interactive web-based Pulmonary Rehabilitation programme: protocol for the WEB SPACE for COPD feasibility study.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) is an evidence-based intervention that has been recommended in guidelines to be available to those who may benefit. However, not all patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have access to this service. Healthcare services have shown the need for the provision of PR in other forms to enable patient choice and service capacity. There is an increase in evidence for the use of the internet in the management of long-term conditions to provide education and promote self-management. The aim of this study is to see if an interactive web-based PR programme is a feasible alternative compared with conventional PR. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a feasibility study designed to evaluate the efficacy of providing a web-based PR programme to improve patients exercise capacity, quality of life and promote self-management in patients with moderate to severe COPD compared with conventional PR programmes. Eligible patients will be randomly allocated to receive either the web-based programme or conventional rehabilitation programme for 7 weeks using an internet-based randomisation system. Participants will be recruited from PR assessments, primary care and community rehabilitation programmes. Those randomised to the web-based programme work through the website which contains all the information that the patients receive in the PR classes. They receive weekly phone calls by a professional to help progress through the course on line. The outcome measures will be recruitment rates and eligibility as well as that standard for a PR assessment including measures of exercise capacity, quality of life questionnaires and physical activity. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The research ethics committee for Northampton has provided ethical approval for the conduct of the study. The results of the study will be disseminated through appropriate conference presentations and peer reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN03142263.

A pilot study to explore the effectiveness of "early" rehabilitation after a hospital admission for chronic heart failure.

People with chronic heart failure (CHF) experience acute exacerbations of their symptoms. These episodes are costly to patients and the health service. The study was a single group, pretest and posttest design. Seventeen patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) started rehabilitation within 4 weeks of hospital discharge. The 6 week rehabilitation programme included exercise and self-management education. The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), the incremental and endurance shuttle walking tests (ISWT/ESWT) were assessed at baseline and after rehabilitation. The number and duration of any CHF admissions in the year before and the year after rehabilitation were also recorded. Improvements in the ISWT, ESWT, and depression were, mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) 60.6 (36.0-85.2) metres, 356.0 (173.0-539.0) seconds (both p≤0.001) and (-)1.0 ((-)1.8-(-)0.2) points (p<0.05), respectively. HADS anxiety improvements failed to reach significance. At 1 year, there was a significant decrease in CHF-related hospitalisations, mean change (95% CI) (-)0.8 ((-)1.1-(-)0.4), p≤0.001 and CHF bed days (-)13.0 ((-)24.4-(-)1.6), p<0.05. Early rehabilitation significantly improved exercise capacity and depression and reduced CHF-associated health care utilisation in patients who had recently been hospitalised. The intervention was safe. However, the sample size was small and results were not compared to a control group. Therefore, the effects of natural recovery are unknown.