Principle Investigator
Overview Cardiorespiratory fitness [VO2peak] is one of the strongest predictors of cardiac related co-morbidities including physical and psychosocial function, quality of life, heart transplantation, and mortality in those with congenital heart disease [CHD]. The primary aim of the proposed clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a remotely delivered, in-home, supervised cardiac rehabilitation [CR] exercise program delivered to groups of adolescents with congenital heart disease [n=74] by live health coach via group video conferencing technology; thus eliminating barriers related to accessibility for patients/families who may not have the capability or resources to travel to a regional children’s hospital multiple days per week for traditional in-hospital CR. If our remotely delivered, group based approach for pediatric CR is found to be effective for increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiac function, and other markers of physical and psychosocial health, the implementation of this approach across multiple centers has the potential to improve a patient’s health, wellbeing, and resistance to physiologic stressors, reduce severity of illness and co-morbidities, and potentially lengthen life for children and adolescents with congenital heart disease.
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