Gamification-augmented home-based exercise for peripheral artery disease: Rationale and design of the GAMEPAD Study.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Behavioral Economics
• Digital Health

Background:

• Supervised exercise therapy (SET) improves outcomes in peripheral artery disease (PAD) but faces participation barriers.
• Home-based walking interventions are more accessible but lack proven efficacy.
• Behavioral economics concepts can drive scalable physical activity interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a gamified, home-based walking intervention for PAD patients.
• To increase daily physical activity and improve quality of life in PAD.
• To assess the effectiveness of behavioral economics in a virtual PAD trial.

Main Methods:

• Pragmatic, virtual randomized controlled trial (GAMEPAD, NCT04536012).
• 102 PAD patients randomized to gamification or control arms for 16 weeks.
• Intervention involved wearable trackers, step goals, and behavioral economics strategies.

Main Results:

• Primary endpoint: change in daily steps over 16 weeks (details pending).
• Secondary endpoints: post-intervention step changes and patient-reported outcomes.
• Enrollment goal met, demonstrating feasibility of virtual recruitment.

Conclusions:

• The GAMEPAD trial tests a novel, home-based virtual intervention for PAD.
• Findings will inform scalable, behavioral economics-based strategies for PAD physical activity.
• Results have implications for managing exertional symptoms in various conditions.