HEART Camp Connect -Promoting Exercise in Adults With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA · Mar 13, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The HEART Camp Connect trial is studying how exercise can help adults with heart failure that is considered "preserved ejection fraction" (HFpEF), meaning their heart pumps well but they still face heart failure symptoms. Researchers want to find out if having a coach, either in person or through video calls, can encourage these patients to exercise more, feel better, and improve certain health markers in their blood. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups for 18 months: one group will meet with a coach in person, another will meet via video calls, and a control group will only have access to exercise videos without a coach. All participants will also receive a fitness watch and heart rate monitor to track their workouts.

To join the study, participants should be adults aged 65 to 74 with a diagnosis of HFpEF, have had an echocardiogram in the last two years, and be stable on their heart medications. They will complete an exercise test and some training before starting the program. Throughout the study, participants will wear an activity monitor for a week at four different times, have their blood drawn, and keep a daily exercise diary. This trial aims to help improve exercise habits and overall health for those living with heart failure.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Diagnosis of heart failure with an ejection fraction greater than or equal to 50
• • Echocardiogram in prior 24 months
• • Stable pharmacologic therapy in the past 30 days
• • Score greater than or equal to 6 on the heart failure with preserved ejection fraction algorithm or hemodynamic evidence of HFpEF
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Life-limiting illness precluding study completion
• • Clinical evidence of decompensated heart failure
• • Unstable angina or marked shortness of breath on exertion at less than 2 metabolic equivalents
• • Myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass graft, or biventricular pacemaker in prior 6 weeks
• • Orthopedic or neuromuscular disorders preventing aerobic exercise
• • Cardiopulmonary exercise test results that preclude safe exercise
• • Unwilling/unable to complete pre-randomization procedures
• • Pregnancy
• • Implantable cardioverter defibrillator