The National Institute of Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, recently awarded $30 million over five years to support research to test a novel physical rehabilitation program designed for older patients hospitalized for acute heart failure.
An interprofessional team of cardiology and physical therapy scientific investigators from Wake Forest, Thomas Jefferson University, and Duke University, including Amy M. Pastva, PT, MA, PhD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Physical Therapy, will conduct a Phase III trial to examine whether a novel physical rehabilitation intervention will reduce rehospitalizations and mortality (NIH 1R01AG078153-01).
Heart failure, a condition in which the heart is not pumping blood and oxygen efficiently, affects more than 6 million adults in the U.S. and is the leading cause of hospitalization among older persons.
“Our previous Phase II REHAB-HF trial, published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that our novel physical therapist-led intervention impacted the daily lives and independence of a diverse group of vulnerable older persons who live with the serious illness of heart failure,” Pastva said. “We hope this larger trial will confirm and extend these results.”