Physical Activity Intervention in ELderly Patients With Myocardial INfarction

Summary

Elderly patients presenting with myocardial infarction (MI) are the highest risk population with the worst prognosis. No trial has ever been designed to optimize their outcome through a systematic improvement of their physical performance. Cardiac rehabilitation demonstrated to improve prognosis of patients after MI. However, real-life data shows that older patients are not referred to rehabilitation centers or they have low rate of attendance because of the high number of rehabilitation sessions and of logistic problems. So, data about effectiveness of rehabilitation programs in older MI patients is lacking.

The "Physical Activity Intervention for Elderly Patients with Reduced Physical Performance after acute coronary syndrome (HULK)" pilot study (NCT03021044) enrolled older MI patients and it demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of an early, tailored and low-cost physical activity intervention in terms of physical performance assessed by Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score, that is strongly related to prognosis. The HULK study was focused on exercise training and not powered for hard endpoints. If a multi-domain lifestyle intervention in an adequately powered study may further improve prognosis is unknown. Thus, the investigator's hypothesis for the PIpELINe trial is that an early, tailored and low-cost multi-domain lifestyle intervention may improve prognosis of older MI patients compared to health education alone. The primary outcome is a composite of 1-year cardiovascular death and hospital readmission for cardiovascular cause.

Conditions

• Myocardial Infarction
• Aging

Interventions

OTHER

Health Education

Current gold standard in older patients admitted to hospital for MI. The group will receive a 20-minute session with one of the study physicians. Both the patient and relatives will attend these sessions. The study physician will stress the major issues related to a heart-healthy lifestyle and will explain the importance of PA as a powerful and independent factor to improve cardiovascular health and minimize cardiovascular risk. A detailed brochure explaining the benefits of physical activity will be provided to all patients

OTHER

Multi-domain lifestyle intervention

The intervention includes diet counselling, smoke cessation program, aggressive CV risk control and PA intervention. The PA intervention consisted of supervised sessions combined with an individualized home-based PA program. Centre-based sessions will be supervised by a sports physician and a nurse, and will take approximately 30 to 40 minutes, including a moderate standardized treadmill-walk, and strength and balance exercises. Based on the practice sessions, patients will receive a walking program to perform at home, unsupervised. The PA programs will be individualized, and consistent with current international recommendations. A selection of calisthenic exercises will be prescribed. Participants will be encouraged to perform the exercises three times per week (approximately 20 minutes). Adjustment of the type and intensity of the home-based PA regimen will be made at each visit. The PA program will be extensively described to the patient and family members.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Azienda Usl di Bologna

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale di Piacenza

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital of Ferrara

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-03-27

Primary Completion

2024-11-30

Completion

2026-11-30

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations