The Effectiveness of a Theory-driven Behavioral Change Intervention on Sedentary Behavior in Individuals With Coronary Heart Disease: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Summary

The objective of this randomised controlled trial is to examine the effectiveness of a theory-driven behavioural change intervention on total sedentary time (primary outcomes), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity time, intention of behavioural change, future time perception, behavioural prepotency, self-regulation capacity, and exercise capacity in individuals with coronary heart disease.

Hypotheses:

Compared to the participants in the control group, participants in the intervention group will demonstrate:

1. Significantly less total sedentary time
2. Significantly improved MVPA time,
3. Significantly better intention of behavioural change,
4. Significantly higher level of behavioural prepotency,
5. Significantly enhanced self-regulation capacity, and
6. Significantly greater future time perception
7. Significantly better exercise capacity at the immediate post-intervention (T1), the 1-month post-intervention (T2), and the 6-month post-intervention (T3).

Participants will:

Participants in the intervention group will participate in a theory-driven behavioural change intervention over three months, comprising four individual face-to-face sessions (45 minutes each) and four individual telephone sessions (20 minutes each), along with the usual care.

Participants in the attention control group will continue to have the usual care, which includes regular follow-up at the cardiac clinic. Education sessions, consisting of information about healthy lifestyles, except physical activity and sedentary behaviour, with the same schedule as the intervention group, will be provided to account for potential attention effects from contacts.

Conditions

• Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

A theory-driven behavioural change intervention

A theory-driven behavioural change intervention is validated by an expert panel including professionals from various fields, such as nurse consultants, a specialty nurse in cardiology, an experienced registered nurse from a cardiac rehabilitation center in a regional hospital, a physiotherapist, and academia, focusing on strengthening intention to change (connected beliefs and temporal valuations), behavioral prepotency, and enhancing the self-regulatory capacity, as guided by the Temporal Self-Regulation Theory, and supplemented with a intervention booklet. The intervention is developed and facilitated by a registered nurse (principal investigator).

BEHAVIORAL

Attentive control group

Participants in the attention control group will participate in education sessions consisting of information about healthy lifestyles, except physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Activities match the time and attention dedicated by the intervention group. Activities are designed to have no impact on sedentary behaviour and physical activity.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chinese University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elaine Yi Ning Miu, MSc · Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Ho Yu Cheng, PhD · Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-13

Primary Completion

2026-10-31

Completion

2026-10-31