SMART to Optimize an Intervention to Maintain Health Improvements After Cardiac Rehabilitation

Part of paid clinical trials in Providence, Rhode Island.

Sponsor
The Miriam Hospital
Study ID
NCT06886789
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Cardiac Rehabilitation
  • Cardiovascular Diseases

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Text Messaging — BEHAVIORAL
    On 3 days/week they receive a text about 1 of the 3 behaviors (weight maintenance or loss, physical activity, and medication adherence) in randomized order with guidance for maintaining or improving these behaviors to reach program-provided goals. The system compares their last week's adherence to the responder criteria. They receive feedback praising adherence and instructions for a theory-driven behavioral strategy (e.g., stimulus control) to increase adherence. Feedback is tailored to the patient's adherence or existence of self-monitoring data.
  • Fully Automated Online Program — BEHAVIORAL
    Patients receiving the fully automated online program will select a weight loss or a weight maintenance curriculum based on their goals. Patients will receive 8 weeks of fully automated lessons covering the 3 key behaviors: weight (management or loss), physical activity, and medication adherence. All 3 behaviors are discussed weekly, but the lessons first prioritize PA, then weight management, and then medication adherence to mimic the emphasis in Phase II. Total weekly lesson time is 20-30 minutes. Patients retain access to lessons. They self-monitor calories, weight, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and medication adherence. Tracking data are seamlessly integrated into the system. They manually enter their medication adherence data and receive encouraging feedback on each of the behaviors the next week.
  • Low-Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation Maintenance Program — BEHAVIORAL
    Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in if they log in less than twice weekly.
  • High Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation Maintenance Program — BEHAVIORAL
    Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily and attend a once weekly virtual meeting with a CR case manager. Meetings are modeled after Phase II and focus on tailored exercise prescription, addressing cognitive, behavioral, and environmental adherence barriers, and support. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in if they log in less than twice weekly.

Study Details

The study is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The study expects to enroll 400 subjects. The research team will recruit research participants that are finishing or will finish cardiac rehabilitation soon. Participants belong to one or more groups of people who are less often studied in cardiac rehabilitation research, may have less access to a formal cardiac rehabilitation maintenance program, or they may especially benefit from additional support after cardiac rehabilitation ends. The main purposes of this study are to evaluate which treatments work the best after cardiac rehabilitation, which order to deliver the treatments in, and which treatments are as minimally burdensome as possible while still working well. This study will make two comparisons (one comparison between a set of low-intensity interventions and another between a set of higher-intensity interventions) to determine which produces the best behavioral adherence immediately after Phase II (outpatient) cardiac rehabilitation

Key Dates

Start date
Apr 1, 2026
Status verified
Feb 2026
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2030
Completion
Aug 31, 2030

Study Design

Enrollment
400 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
SEQUENTIAL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: First Intervention: Text Messaging, Second Intervention: Continued Text Messaging
    Participants are first randomized to the low-intensity text messaging intervention. On 3 days/week they receive a text about 1 of the 3 behaviors (weight maintenance or loss, physical activity, and medication adherence) in randomized order with guidance for maintaining or improving these behaviors to reach program-provided goals. The system compares their last week's adherence to the responder criteria. They receive feedback praising adherence and instructions for a theory-driven behavioral strategy (e.g., stimulus control) to increase adherence. Feedback is tailored to the patient's adherence or existence of self-monitoring data. Participants meeting responder criteria after 2 months will continue to receive the text messaging intervention for the next 3 months.
  • Experimental: First Intervention: Text Messaging, Second Intervention: Low-Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation
    Participants receive the text messaging intervention for 2 months. Following their mid-intervention assessment, they are randomized to receive the low-intensity cardiac rehabilitation maintenance program. Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in if they log in less than twice weekly.
  • Experimental: First Intervention: Text Messaging, Second Intervention: High-Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation
    Participants receive the text messaging intervention for 2 months. Following their mid-intervention assessment, they are randomized to receive the high-intensity cardiac rehabilitation maintenance program. Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily and attend a once weekly virtual meeting with a CR case manager. Meetings are modeled after Phase II and focus on tailored exercise prescription, addressing cognitive, behavioral, and environmental adherence barriers, and support. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in if they log in less than twice weekly.
  • Experimental: First Intervention: Fully Automated Online Program (FAOP), Second Intervention: Continued FAOP
    Patients receiving the fully automated online program will select a weight loss or a weight maintenance curriculum based on their goals. Patients will receive 8 weeks of fully automated lessons covering the 3 key behaviors: weight (management or loss), physical activity, and medication adherence. All 3 behaviors are discussed weekly, but the lessons first prioritize PA, then weight management, and then medication adherence to mimic the emphasis in Phase II. Total weekly lesson time is 20-30 minutes. Patients retain access to lessons. They self-monitor calories, weight, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and medication adherence. Tracking data are seamlessly integrated into the system. They manually enter their medication adherence data and receive encouraging feedback on each of the behaviors the next week. Participants meeting responder criteria after 2 months will continue to receive the fully automated online program.
  • Experimental: First Intervention: FAOP, Second Intervention: Low-Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation
    Participants receive the fully automated online program for 2 months. Following their mid-intervention assessment, they are randomized to receive the low-intensity cardiac rehabilitation maintenance program. Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in if they log in less than twice weekly.
  • Experimental: First Intervention: FAOP, Second Intervention: High-Intensity Cardiac Rehabilitation
    Participants receive the fully automated online program intervention for 2 months. Following their mid-intervention assessment, they are randomized to receive the high-intensity cardiac rehabilitation maintenance program. Patients are instructed to log in 3 times weekly to view lessons, sync their Fitbit data, and complete a home-based workout video. They track weight, PA, and medication adherence daily and attend a once weekly virtual meeting with a CR case manager. Meetings are modeled after Phase II and focus on tailored exercise prescription, addressing cognitive, behavioral, and environmental adherence barriers, and support. Patients have access to an extensive CR resource library made and curated by the platform provider plus resources on maintaining heart healthy behaviors during Phase III created by the research team. They are reminded to log in (after they miss a login) if they log in less than twice weekly.

Primary Outcome Measure

Weight Management [ Time Frame: From enrollment to the post-intervention assessment at 6 months ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center of The Miriam HospitalProvidenceRhode Island02903
Carly M Goldstein, PhD, FAACVPR
[email protected]
401-793-8960
Ana Almeida
[email protected]
401-793-8950
Carly M Goldstein, PhD, FAACVPR (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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