Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2025
A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Feasibility and effectiveness of an integrative cardiac rehabilitation employing smartphone technology (I-CREST): a
Hadassah Joann Ramachandran1, Tee Joo Yeo2, Chuen Wei Alvin Seah3
1Health and Social Sciences, Singapore Institute of Technology, 1 Punggol Coast Road, Level 7, Kwek Leng Beng University Tower E1, Singapore 828608, Singapore.
Aims:
To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an integrated-cardiac rehabilitation programme employing smartphone technology (I-CREST) for patients post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) compared with a centre-based cardiac rehabilitation (CBCR) programme.
Methods And Results:
A two-arm parallel pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 50 post-AMI patients recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore. Participants were randomly allocated to either the I-CREST or the CBCR group. Data were collected at four time points: baseline, post-intervention (6 weeks), at 3 and 6 months. An intention-to-treat approach was adopted for data analysis. Out of 2825 patients screened over 20 months, 171 (6.05%) were eligible, and 50 patients were enrolled. Pre-specified success criteria for feasibility were achieved regarding engagement, with a high rate of participation in weekly telephone calls (95.8%), and intervention safety was confirmed. However, the pre-specified success criteria for feasibility related to recruitment and engagement with weekly educational content were not met. In terms of effectiveness, I-CREST demonstrated significantly higher completion rates (84 vs. 40%; P = 0.001) and better 6-minute walk test results at the 6-week time point (530.8 vs. 480.2 m; P = 0.017) compared with CBCR.
Conclusion:
This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of the I-CREST programme, although recruitment methods require refinement. I-CREST showed promise as an effective alternative to CBCR, with fewer resources required. A full-scale study is recommended to confirm these findings statistically.
Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05270993.
