Manipulating Exercise Intensity and Affective Responses for Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients
Manipulating Exercise Intensity and Affective Responses on a Cardiac Rehabiliattion Program for Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria
52 participants
Mar 1, 2026
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if pleasure-oriented exercise intensity manipulation increases physical activity (PA) behavior in patients who have suffered acute coronary syndrome during a cardiac rehabilitation program. The main question it aims to answer is: • the manipulation of exercise intensity performed to produce more pleasure and arousal will impact the PA behavior? Researchers will compare the PA levels and affective responses to see if the manipulation of exercise intensity guided to pleasure and arousal works to increase PA behavior compared to the control group who will follow a conventional exercise program. Participants will do: * sixteen individualized hospital exercise sessions (two per week) and complementary physical activity program integrated into their daily life * be evaluated before and at the end of the exercise sessions and after 3 months
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria4
- Selection criteria include:
- patients older than 18 years
- diagnosis of ACS within the past 12 months who have not previously participated in a CR program
- patients classified as low-risk (Class B) according to the American Heart Association: (a) New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I or II, (b) exercise capacity greater than 6 METs, (c) no evidence of heart failure, (d) no signs of myocardial ischemia or angina at rest or during exercise testing at or below 6 METs, (e) appropriate systolic blood pressure response during exercise, and (f) absence of sustained or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia at rest or during exercise.
Exclusion Criteria5
- left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40% at rest
- uncontrolled arrythmias (e.g., complex ventricular arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation or flutter with rapid ventricular response, second-degree atrioventricular block Mobitz type II, or third-degree atrioventricular block)
- presence of an implantable cardiac device
- symptomatic peripheral arterial disease
- comorbidities that may interfere with the ability to perform the exercise program safely.
Interested in this trial?
Get notified about updates and connect with the research team.
Interventions
The intervention will be implemented in the 8 weeks phase 2 cardiac rehabilitation program. Both groups will receive a pre-exercise evaluation and 16 individualized training sessions (two per week) based on FITT-VP principles and according to the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) guidelines. A complementary physical activity program integrated into their daily life will be prescribed. It will receive regular briefing sessions regarding the health-related benefits of exercise. After these sessions, it will be recommended to maintain physical activity aiming to reach at least 150 min/week of moderate intensity PA.
As for the experimental group, in the 16 individualized training sessions (two per week), attention will be given to exercise intensity assessment and manipulation, with the goal of optimizing the affective experience of exercise, while also respecting minimum and maximum intensity thresholds as proposed by the EAPC (self-selected intensity within individually defined limits). The pre-exercise evaluation, the number of sessions, and methodological approach will be the same to the control group. In this group it will be presented some awareness of the potential of choosing fun and pleasant activities.
Locations(2)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
For the most up-to-date information, visit the official listing.
NCT07105943