Digital app supports physical activity habits in cardiac rehabilitation patients
A pilot randomized trial of 34 cardiac rehabilitation patients tested whether a personalized digital app (aktivplan) could help people maintain exercise routines after leaving the hospital. The intervention group showed high adherence, completing 71% of planned activities and adding an average of 39 extra sessions, with positive feedback from both patients and clinicians.
Patients leaving cardiac rehabilitation programs often struggle to sustain heart-healthy exercise routines long-term, even after supervised training. Researchers tested a digital health intervention called aktivplan in a pilot randomized controlled trial with 34 Austrian cardiac rehabilitation patients (mean age 57, 62% male).
Half received access to the aktivplan app with a personalized physical activity plan at hospital discharge; the other half received standard care without digital support. Over a 10-week follow-up period, the intervention group completed 71% of their planned activities and performed an average of 39 additional unplanned exercise sessions—indicating strong engagement with the app. The study tracked adherence through wearable accelerometers and heart rate monitors, achieving 97.4% data completeness and 18% attrition. Both patients and healthcare professionals reported positive experiences, with clinicians rating the intervention's implementation at 3.75 out of 5 on a standardized measure. No adverse events were linked to the intervention or study procedures. The authors note this pilot was designed primarily to test feasibility and study design, not to prove effectiveness, making it too small to show whether the app actually improves long-term cardiac outcomes.
The high adherence rate—71% of prescribed activities plus 39 spontaneous sessions per person—suggests patients engaged genuinely rather than abandoning the tool after initial interest. Subgroup and implementation data revealed that healthcare professionals felt confident delivering the intervention (mean score 3.75/5 on fidelity measures), which matters because clinician buy-in often predicts real-world adoption. Patients' open-ended feedback identified specific improvements to the app's interface and reminder algorithms, providing actionable data for refinement. The 18% attrition and 97.4% data completeness are strong indicators that the study design itself works—recruitment of 1.0 patients per week at the primary site and balanced randomization on sex and fitness suggest a future definitive trial is logistically feasible. One limitation: the nonblinded design (patients and staff knew who had the app) may have inflated adherence through placebo or social desirability. The study did not measure clinical outcomes like rehospitalization or long-term exercise capacity, only behavior and acceptability.
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