Organizing holistic care and management for heart failure patients remains still a challenge for healthcare systems. One of the possibilities is to introduce hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation and telecare in heart failure patients.

The primary objective of the TELEREH-HF trial is to determine whether introducing a novel hybrid model of comprehensive telerehabilitation and telecare in heart failure patients will significantly increase days alive and out of hospital when compared with usual care.
The secondary objectives are to assess the effects of a hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation and telecare compared to usual care on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and all-cause, cardiovascular and heart failure hospitalization.
The tertiary analyses will include: evaluation of the safety, effectiveness, quality of life, depression, anxiety, patients acceptance of and adherence to a hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation and telecare.

The study was designed as a randomized (1:1), prospective, open-label, parallel group, controlled, multi-center (5 centers) trial among 850 clinically stable heart patients after a hospitalization incident, NYHA I-III, LVEF≤40%. Eligible patients were randomized to either hybrid telerehabilitation plus telecare group or to usual care group and were followed for a maximum of 24 months.

The telerehabilitation group underwent a 9-week hybrid telerehabilitation program consisting of an initial stage (1 week) conducted at hospital and a basic stage (8-week) home-based telerehabilitation five times weekly. The goals of the initial stage were: a baseline clinical examination, education, individual planning of exercise training and performing a few monitored educational training sessions.The patients received a device for remote supervision of the exercise training and telemonitoring (ECG, blood pressure, weight).
The usual care group received usual care appropriate for their clinical status and standardized within a particular center.

The results will be presented during ESC Congress in Paris.

The TELEREH-HF trial will provide novel data on the effects of telerehabilitation on hospitalization and mortality in heart failure patients, and on safety, quality of life, depression, anxiety and acceptance of and adherence to this intervention.

The project will enable early secondary prevention in the population of patients with heart failure to be implemented. It will be achieved via:

• Novel concept – “From Hospital To Home”
• Novel technology – telemedicine
• Novel method of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation implementation