Exploring the Promise of Telemedicine Exercise Interventions in Children and Adolescents With Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Youth with congenital heart disease (CHD) have reduced exercise capacity via various physical and psychosocial mechanisms. In addition to limited physiologic exercise capacity, these patients experience lower levels of physical activity, physical activity self-efficacy, health-related quality of life, and endothelial function. The study of exercise interventions and cardiac rehabilitation programs in pediatric CHD populations remains limited, particularly home-based interventions that incorporate real-time physiologic monitoring. Home-based interventions provide improved access and convenience to patients. This is principally important for patients from geographically disperse regions who receive their care at centralized subspecialty centres, as is the case for Canadian pediatric cardiac care. These programs, however, have traditionally not permitted the supervision of safety, technique, and adherence that are afforded by hospital/facility-based programs. As such, telemedicine is an important evolving area that combines the benefits of traditional home and facility-based cardiac rehabilitation. An additional key area lacking study surrounds the types of exercise interventions in youth with CHD. To date, interventions have often centred around moderate-intensity continuous exercise. High-intensity interval training might offer superior cardiorespiratory advantages but remains understudied in the CHD population. In this review, we highlight the existing evidence basis for exercise interventions in youth with CHD, explore the promise of incorporating telemedicine home-based solutions, and highlight key knowledge gaps. To address identified knowledge gaps, we are undertaking a 12-week randomized crossover trial of a home-based telemedicine high-intensity interval training intervention in youth with repaired moderate-severe CHD using a video game-linked cycle ergometer (known as the MedBIKE; https://spaces.facsci.ualberta.ca/ahci/projects/medical-projects/remote-rehab-bike-projects).