Key result
The BENEFIT eHealth programme added to standard cardiac rehabilitation improved short-term vegetable intake, stress, and sleep, with a trend toward increased long-term physical activity (P=0.061).
Why the study?
Most patients with cardiovascular disease do not maintain a healthy lifestyle, prompting the development of the BENEFIT programme as an addition to cardiac rehabilitation care to help sustain home behaviour change.
Does the BENEFIT eHealth programme added to standard cardiac rehabilitation improve lifestyle behaviour changes in patients with cardiovascular disease?
Does the BENEFIT eHealth programme added to standard cardiac rehabilitation improve lifestyle behaviour changes in patients with cardiovascular disease?
Integrating an eHealth platform with standard cardiac rehabilitation provides additional short-term benefits in diet, stress, and sleep, and may help increase long-term physical activity.
Should not yet change CR delivery; leaves open whether add-on eHealth coaching yields durable lifestyle or clinical gains.
BACKGROUND: The majority of people with cardiovascular disease (CVD) do not maintain a healthy lifestyle. To help patients implement behaviour change at home, the BENEFIT programme was developed as an addition to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) care. METHODS: Using a cluster non-randomised controlled trial design involving 7 CR centres, we examined whether intervention group patients (n=587) showed increased improvements in health behaviour change compared to control group patients (n=298) who (only) received a multidisciplinary, comprehensive CR programme. Physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, diet, stress and sleep were assessed at the start and after finishing CR (short-term) and at one-year follow-up (long-term). Core of the intervention was access to an advanced eHealth platform consisting of functionality for daily goal monitoring, access to lifestyle interventions, personal coaching and a reward programme. FINDINGS: The standard CR programme improved most lifestyle behaviours, while the intervention led to additional short-term changes in vegetable intake (t= 2.00, p=.023), work-related stress (z= -2.97, p=.002), and sleep hours (t= 2.57, p=.005). Finally, in contrast to the control group (t= 1.88, p=.415), the intervention group significantly increased its physical activity long-term (t= 5.04, p<.001) exercising 42 minutes more per week, yet this group-interaction effect showed only a trend (t=1.55, p=.061). CONCLUSIONS: While comprehensive CR care led to improvements in most lifestyle behaviours, the BENEFIT programme demonstrated additional benefits, particularly in physical exercise, dietary habits, stress reduction, and sleep, across a diverse CR-patient population. These findings underscore the potential of integrating eHealth solutions as an effective supplement to traditional CR care.
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Breeman et al. (2025) studied Cardiovascular disease (CVD) (n=885). BENEFIT programme (eHealth platform) vs. Standard multidisciplinary, comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation was evaluated on Improvements in health behaviour change (physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, diet, stress and sleep). The BENEFIT eHealth programme added to standard cardiac rehabilitation improved short-term vegetable intake, stress, and sleep, with a trend toward increased long-term physical activity (P=0.061).
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