Background: Heart failure (HF) is a common and deadly disease, precipitated by physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Although the 1-year survival rate after the first diagnosis is high, physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are associated with increased mortality and negatively impact the health-related quality of life (HR-QoL).

Objective: We tested the recruitment frequency, implementation fidelity, and feasibility of outcomes of the Activity Coach app that was developed using an existing mobile health (mHealth) tool, Optilogg, to support older adults with HF to be more physically active and less sedentary.

Methods: In this pilot clinical randomized controlled trial (RCT), patients with HF who were already using Optilogg to enhance self-care behavior were recruited from 5 primary care health centers in Sweden. Participants were randomized to either have their mHealth tool updated with the Activity Coach app (intervention group) or a sham version (control group). The intervention duration was 12 weeks, and in weeks 1 and 12, the participants wore an accelerometer daily to objectively measure their physical activity. The HR-QoL was measured with the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), and subjective goal attainment was assessed using goal attainment scaling. Baseline data were collected from the participants’electronic health records (EHRs).

Results: We found 67 eligible people using the mHealth tool, of which 30 (45%) initially agreed to participate, with 20 (30%) successfully enrolled and randomized to the control and intervention groups in a ratio of 1:1. The participants’ daily adherence to registering physical activity in the Activity Coach app was 69% (range 24%-97%), and their weekly adherence was 88% (range 58%-100%). The mean goal attainment score was –1.0 (SD 1.1) for the control group versus 0.6 (SD 0.6) for the intervention group (P=.001). The mean change in the overall HR-QoL summary score was –9 (SD 10) for the control group versus 3 (SD 13) in the intervention group (P=.027). There was a significant difference in the physical limitation scores between the control (mean 45, SD 27) and intervention (mean 71, SD 20) groups (P=.04). The average length of sedentary bouts increased by 27 minutes to 458 (SD 84) in the control group minutes and decreased by 0.70 minutes to 391 (SD 117) in the intervention group (P=.22). There was a nonsignificant increase in the mean light physical activity (LPA): 146 (SD 46) versus 207 (SD 80) minutes in the control and intervention groups, respectively (P=.07).

Conclusions: The recruitment rate was lower than anticipated. An active recruitment process is advised if a future efficacy study is to be conducted. Adherence to the Activity Coach app was high, and it may be able to support older adults with HF in being physically active.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05235763; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05235763

AimThis paper describes the trajectory during 1 year of four patient-reported outcomes (PROs), namely, sleep, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life (HrQoL), and well-being, in patients with heart failure (HF), their relationship and the patient characteristics associated with changes in these PROs.Methods and resultsData analyses of PROs from 603 patients (mean age 67 years; 29% female, 60% NYHA II) enrolled in the HF-Wii study. On short term, between baseline and 3 months, 16% of the patients experienced continuing poor sleep, 11% had sustained depressive symptoms, 13% had consistent poor HrQoL, and 13% consistent poor well-being. Across the entire 1-year period only 21% of the patients had good PRO scores at all timepoints (baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months). All others had at least one low score in any of the PROs at some timepoint during the study. Over the 12 months, 17% had consistently poor sleep, 17% had sustained symptoms of depression, 15% consistently rated a poor HrQoL, and 13% poor well-being. Different patient characteristics per PRO were associated with a poor outcomes across the 12 months. Age, education, New York Heart Association, and length of disease were related to two PRO domains and submaximal exercise capacity (6 min test), co-morbidity, and poor physical activity to one.ConclusionIn total, 79% of the patients with HF encountered problems related to sleep, depressive symptoms, HrQoL, and well-being at least once during a 1-year period. This underscores the need for continuous monitoring and follow-up of patients with HF and the need for dynamic adjustments in treatment and care regularly throughout the HF trajectory.

Objective: Depression among older adults is a growing problem. With aging being a risk factor for COVID-19 infection, depression in this population may have been exacerbated. This study aimed to describe experiences and changes in depressive symptoms and well-being of older adults during and after the COVID-19 first wave in Spain. Methods: The study used a multi-method design. Participants self-reported depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale) and well-being (Cantril Ladder of Life). Participants were asked about changes in depressive symptoms or well-being during quarantine. If a change was perceived, they were asked to describe the change. In addition, the Patient Global Impression of Change scale was used. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on the data. Results: 111 participants (mean age: 71 +/- 5 years; 76% women) completed the study. Sixty-three percent reported mild and 2% reported major depressive symptoms. Nearly half (47.7%) reported changes in depressive symptoms during the lockdown. While 37% reported feeling better during the lockdown, about 11% reported depressive symptoms were worse now compared with during the lockdown. 60% reported worsening well-being during the quarantining period. The qualitative analysis revealed 2 main themes: (1) psychological discomfort (mood deflection, fear/worries, and boredom/inactivity) and (2) social issues (inability to go out, missing family members and others). Conclusions: Worsening depressive symptoms and lowering of well-being were noticed in this sample of older adults during and post-COVID lockdowns. Evaluation of mental health in the primary care setting and providing referrals for mental health services is essential for older adults who experienced COVID-19-related lockdowns.

Aims After heart transplantation (HTx), increments in physical activity (PA) are strongly recommended. However, participation rates in exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation and engagement in PA are insufficient in many patients. Hence, this study aimed to explore the central factors and the interconnections among distinct types of motivation to exercise, PA, sedentary time, psychosomatic, diet, and activity limitation characteristics in post-HTx patients. Methods and results This is a cross-sectional study involving 133 post-HTx patients (79 men, mean age 57 +/- 13 years, mean time from transplantation 55 +/- 42 months) recruited from an outpatient clinic in Spain. The patients were asked to fill in questionnaires measuring self-reported PA, motivation to exercise, kinesiophobia, musculoskeletal pain, quality of sleep, depression, functional capacity, frailty, sarcopenia risk, and diet quality. Two network structures were estimated: one network including PA and one network including sedentary time as nodes. The relative importance of each node in the network structures was determined using centrality analyses. According to the strength centrality index, functional capacity and identified regulation (subtypes of motivation to exercise) are the two most central nodes of the network (strength: z-score = 1.35-1.51). Strong and direct connections emerged between frailty and PA and between sarcopenia risk and sedentary time. Conclusion Functional capacity and autonomous motivation to exercise are the most promising targets of interventions to improve PA levels and sedentary time in post-HTx patients. Furthermore, frailty and sarcopenia risk were found to mediate the effects of several other factors on PA and sedentary time.

To improve the practical application of measuring exercise capacity, the purpose of this study was to compare the 6 min walk distance (6MWD) obtained at a 30 m track with the guidance of healthcare professionals vs. the 6MWD obtained by participants themselves using an app. In total, 37 participants performed both tests. The mean of the differences between the 6MWD on the tests was -4 +/- 45 m (95% limits of agreement: 84 to -99 m). The overall agreement between the two 6MWD measures was 97% with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.96 (95% confidence interval: 0.91-0.98, P < 0.001). The use of an app is feasible, reliable, and valid to assess the 6MWD.

Objectives: Exergaming is promising for patients with heart failure who are less inclined to start or maintain exercise programs involving traditional modes of physical activity. Although no effect on exercise capacity was found for an off-the-shelf exergame, it is important to gain insights into aspects related to costs to develop such interventions further.Materials and Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, the Heart Failure Wii study (HF-Wii study), the intervention group (exergame group) received an introduction to the exergame, the exergame was installed at home and help was offered when needed for 3 months. Patients received telephone follow-ups at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the installation. The control group (motivational support group) received activity advice and telephone follow-ups at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. We collected data on hospital use and costs, costs of the exergame intervention, patient time-related costs, and willingness to pay.Results: No significant differences were found between the exergame group (n = 300) versus the motivational support group (n = 305) in hospital use or costs (1-year number of hospitalizations: P = 0.60, costs: P = 0.73). The cost of the intervention was 190 Euros, and the patient time-related costs were 98 Euros. Of the total estimated costs for the intervention, 287 Euros, patients were willing to pay, on average, 58%.Conclusion: This study shows that the costs of an intervention using an off-the-shelve exergame are relatively low and that the patients were willing to pay for more than half of the intervention costs. The trial is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01785121).

Background: Reducing inactivity in cardiac patients is vital since it can decrease the risk for disease progression and mortality. Current commercial available exergames (games where one has to be physically active to be able to play) might not optimally meet the needs of cardiac patients. The aim of this project was to design and develop a mobile exergame app involving end-users (elderly cardiac patients).

Method: The player-centered, iterative, interdisciplinary, and integrated (P-III) framework for designing and developing serious games has been modified and used for designing and developing the exergame involving end-users. This framework has 4 pillars: 1. Player-centered design process 2. Iterative development 3. Interdisciplinary teamwork 4. Integration of play and the serious content End-users involved in the project were patients from a local patient organization for patients with heart and lung diseases.

Results: In the player-centered design process cardiac patients were involved in the entire game design and development, not only during the usability testing phase. In the iterative development of the game, we had a visual game design of the game to understand the players’ group and the problem domain. Later the visual game concept was transformed into a prototype of the game. This prototype was adapted within seven iterations to a mobile exergame. The development was through interdisciplinary teamwork, where both cardiac patients, experts in cardiac care and game developers worked closely together in developing the game. The serious content in our project is physical activity and the integration is focused on exergame design guidelines for older adults and fitness application guidelines for cardiac patients. The mobile exergame that was developed, has as main goal to walk 10 minutes more a day. The concept of the game is based on taking care of a farm and expanding it by sowing, watering, and planting fruits and vegetables. To do activities in the farm the user has to walk in the physical world, this could be both done indoors or outdoors. Each activity is rewarded with experience points (see screenshot mobile exergame). Conclusion: An exergame was successfully developed within an interdisciplinary team with as goal to encourage cardiac patients to walk 10 minutes more a day. This game will now be tested in a randomized control trial, called the Heart-eXg stud

Objective To determine whether physical activity enjoyment mediated the association between motivation and physical activity in patients with heart failure. Design and setting A cross-sectional study at the cardiology clinic in the university hospital in Valencia, Spain Subjects A total of 134 patients with heart failure. Main measurements Physical activity was assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, motivation was assessed with the Exercise Motivation Index and Physical Activity Enjoyment was assessed with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale. Analysis Mediation analysis using Hayes PROCESS macro (Model 4) for SPSS. Results The mean age of the sample was 70 +/- 14 years, 47 patients were female (35%), and 87 patients were in New York Heart Association I/II (67%). A positive relationship was found between exercise motivation and physical activity (t = 4.57, p < .01) and physical activity enjoyment (t = 11.52, p < .01). Physical activity enjoyment was found to positively affect physical activity (t = 3.50, p < .01). After controlling for physical activity enjoyment, the effect of exercise motivation on physical activity changed from a significant to non-significant (t = 1.33, p = .89), indicating that enjoyment completely mediated the relationship between motivation and physical activity. Overall, 25% of the variation in physical activity was explained by the mediation model. Conclusions Physical activity enjoyment mediates the relationship between exercise motivation and physical activity in patients with heart failure. This means that even highly motivated heart failure patients may not be physically active if they do not enjoy the physical activity.

Objective To analyze (1) the effect of an aerobic training program on functional exercise tolerance in decompensated heart failure (DHF) patients; (2) to assess the effects of an aerobic training program on functional independence; and (3) dyspnea during activities of daily living. Design A randomized controlled clinical trial with follow-up at discharge. Settings Eight hospitals. Recruitment took place between 9/ 2017 and 3/2019. Group Assignments Patients with DHF who were admitted to the hospital, were randomly assigned to usual rehabilitation care guideline recommended (control group) or aerobic training program (exercise group). Main outcome Functional exercise tolerance was measured with a 6-min walking test at discharge. Results In total 257 patients with DHF were included, with a mean age of 67 +/- 11 years, 84% (n = 205) had a reduced ejection fraction and the hospital stay was 16 +/- 10 days. At discharge, patients in the intervention group walked further compared to the control group (278 +/- 117m vs 219 +/- 115m, p &lt; 0.01) and this difference stayed significant after correcting for confounders (p &lt; 0.01). A significant difference was found favoring the exercise group in functional independence (96 +/- 7 vs 93 +/- 12, p = 0.02) and dyspnea associated to ADL (13 +/- 5 vs 17 +/- 7, p &lt; 0.01) and these differences persisted after correcting for baseline values and confounders (functional independence p &lt; 0.01; dyspnea associated with ADL p = 0.02). Conclusion The ERIC-HF program is safe, feasible, and effective in increasing functional exercise tolerance and functional independence in hospitalized patients admitted due to DHF.