Background: Physical activity is an effective management strategy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, but patients' compliance is challenging. Walking is a suitable form of physical activity due to its convenience and sustainability, and it can potentially improve functional capacity in heart failure patients.
Objectives: The WATCHFUL trial aims to determine whether a pedometer-based walking intervention combined with face-to-face sessions and regular telephone contact improves functional capacity in heart failure patients.
Methods: The WATCHFUL trial is a 6-month multicenter, parallel-group, randomized, controlled, superiority trial with a 6-month follow-up. A total of 202 patients were recruited for the trial. The primary analysis will evaluate the change in distance walked during the 6-min walk test from baseline to 6 months based on the intention-to-treat population; the analysis will be performed using a linear mixed-effect model adjusted for baseline values. Missing data will be imputed using multiple imputations, and the impact of missing data will be assessed using a sensitivity analysis. Adverse events are monitored and recorded throughout the trial period.
Discussion: The trial has been designed as a pragmatic trial with a scalable intervention that could be easily translated into routine clinical care. The trial has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which slowed patients' recruitment and impacted their physical activity patterns.
Conclusions: The present publication provides details of the planned statistical analyses for the WATCHFUL trial to reduce the risks of reporting bias and erroneous data-driven results.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT03041610, registered: 3/2/2017).
Keywords: Functional capacity; Garmin; Intention-to-treat analysis; Phone counseling; Physical activity; Pragmatic trial; Self-monitoring; Six-minute walk test; Tele-rehabilitation; Wearables.
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