NCT05946174

Tackling Disruptions to Frailty Interventions: Developing Personalized Interventions Targeted for Older Persons With Cardiac Frailty

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 500 (estimated)
• Sponsor: National Heart Centre Singapore · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years – 100 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Background: Muscle mass loss and metabolic dysfunction, exacerbated by inactivity and nutritional inadequacies, underpin both cardiovascular disease and frailty in ageing. The investigators' proposal seeks to develop interventions in exercise and diet that are targeted for older adults with cardiac frailty. Methods: The investigators' proposal is a five-year study comprising of first phase (first 2-2.5 years) and second phase (next 2-2.5 years). In the first phase cardiac frail participants (up to N=500) from each healthcare transition (inpatient hospital, step-down community hospital, outpatient clinic/community) will be randomized to receive Intervention Sets or usual care. The second phase will scale up these programs. Three Intervention Sets A, B, and C will be implemented in the outpatient, step-down community hospital, and acute hospital settings. Diet intervention comprises meal sets prepared with nutrients involved in energy metabolism. Exercise training is facilitated by hospital gyms and hospital physiotherapists. Diet and exercise behavior will be monitored using questionnaires, video conferencing and meal photos. Significance: Clinical studies are urgently needed using consistent frailty tools to evaluate the efficacy and promise of frailty interventions, targeted to achieve reversal/retardation of frailty. When scaled up, these approaches will provide high-quality science needed to manage cardiac frailty towards healthier population ageing.

Detailed description

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is a formidable disruptor of interventions related to exercise intervention. Patients and physicians face uncertainty about dispensing safe and effective exercise programs to frail patients with concomitant cardiovascular disease. This hesitancy permeates across transitions from acute to step-down care to community settings. Uncertainties include fear of exacerbating heart conditions, individual variability in exercise response and what exercise targets to reach that is rational for each patient. Often, little or no exercise intervention is applied in the acute to step-down phases, which are the periods most critical for frailty reversal. Current dietary interventions do not address the special nutritional needs of acute cardiovascular conditions like heart failure, and may paradoxically induce a syndrome of cardiac cachexia that contributes to the downward spiral of frailty. STUDY DESIGN: This will be a prospective randomized clinical trial. The investigators' proposal is a five-year study comprising of first phase (first 2-2.5 years) and second phase (next 2-2.5 years). In the first phase cardiac frail participants (up to N=500) from each healthcare transition (inpatient hospital, step-down community hospital, outpatient clinic/community) will be randomized to receive Intervention Sets or usual care. The second phase will scale up these programs. At enrolment, pre-defined study time points and end of study, participants will undergo assessments of clinical status, frailty status, cardiovascular function, nutrition, quality of life (QOL), diet/exercise behaviour, and biospecimen sampling. Three Intervention Sets will be implemented in the outpatient, step-down community hospital, and acute hospital settings. Diet intervention comprises meal sets prepared with nutrients involved in energy metabolism. During the trial, exercise intervention is performed in hospitals and community hospitals by physiotherapists. Associated factors such as dietary, comorbidities and other related habits will be tracked simultaneously during the trial Intervention Set A: exercise sessions and meals over approximately 12 weeks. Intervention Set B : exercise sessions and meals over approximately 3 weeks. Intervention Set C: meals over approximately 3 weeks. PROCEDURES 1. Baseline Procedures i. Cardiovascular measurements * Non-invasive brachial blood pressure machine * Echocardiography * Electrocardiography ii. Biospecimen collection iii. Six-minute walk test iv. Musculoskeletal Analysis v. Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)/ Treadmill vi. Questionnaires vii. Timed up and go (TUG) test 2. Post-intervention procedures i. Cardiovascular measurements * Non-invasive brachial blood pressure machine * Echocardiography * Electrocardiography ii. Biospecimen collection iii. Six-minute walk test iv. Musculoskeletal Analysis v. Questionnaires vi. Timed up and go (TUG) test 3. Closing questionnaires

Conditions

• Cardiovascular Diseases

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Intervention Set A	exercise sessions and meals over approximately 12 weeks
OTHER	Intervention Set B	exercise sessions and meals over approximately 3 weeks
OTHER	Intervention Set C	meals over approximately 3 weeks

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-07-12
• Primary completion: 2028-06-21
• Completion: 2028-06-21
• First posted: 2023-07-14
• Last updated: 2025-06-05

Locations

6 sites across 1 country: Singapore