Jess Seymour explores innovative solutions for heart disease prevention

Heart disease is the single leading cause of death and disease burden globally. Physical inactivity is a risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and repeat cardiac events. Increasing activity levels is a core component of secondary prevention programs like cardiac rehabilitation. However, research has shown that only 15% of people with heart disease attending cardiac rehabilitation are meeting the physical activity guidelines. In addition, clinicians report a lack of time and competing priorities as barriers to promoting physical activity in clinical settings.

The ‘Measure It!’ Trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of a very brief physical activity intervention delivered by clinicians to cardiac rehabilitation attendees who are insufficiently active. In addition, the trial will examine factors that can be used to implement this less than five-minute intervention into clinical settings. The intervention includes three components:

1. a self-report of physical activity,
2. a device measure of physical activity using a wearable activity tracker to count steps, and
3. very brief advice and education provided by cardiac rehabilitation clinicians. The intervention aims to take advantage of the ‘measurement effect’ to improve physical activity levels in this population.

The trial, involving 190 participants across five cardiac rehabilitation sites will conclude in November 2024.

These graphics were created by Jessica in collaboration with Graphics et al. as part of a DHCRC visual communication activity.

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