Telemedicine-supported lifestyle intervention for glycemic control in patients with CHD and T2DM: multicenter, randomized controlled trial

Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a substantially increased risk for major cardiovascular events and mortality. Increasing physical activity and improving a healthy diet may effectively reduce cardiovascular risk factors; however, the effects are often transient. In a multicenter, 1:1 randomized controlled trial including 502 patients with combined CHD and T2DM (68 ± 8 years; 84% men), we assessed the effects of a home-based telemedicine-supported lifestyle intervention (exercise training, nutritional recommendations and health literacy training) with regular individualized feedback versus usual care. The study met its primary endpoint of reduced glycated hemoglobin after 6 months in favor of the lifestyle intervention group (mean between-group difference in the complete-case analysis (n = 197 and n = 193), -0.13% (95% confidence interval, -0.25 to -0.01), P = 0.04). When individualized feedback and health literacy training were discontinued after 6 months (while other telemedicine tools were maintained), no statistically significant between-group differences were observed at 12 months. At 12 months, 31 patients (6.2%) had a major adverse cardiovascular event (lifestyle intervention, n = 20 (8.0%); usual care, n = 11 (4.4%); P = 0.15), with the main reason being hospitalization for angina or revascularization (lifestyle intervention, n = 15; usual care, n = 8). There were five deaths (lifestyle intervention, n = 2; usual care, n = 3), none of which were categorized as related to the intervention. However, three events that resulted in hospitalization were categorized as potentially related to the intervention (decompensation of heart failure, vertebral disc prolapse and inguinal hernia). In conclusion, a home-based lifestyle intervention with telemedicine support showed modest effects in patients with CHD and T2DM. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT03835923 .