Physical Activity Counselling for Children with Congenital Heart Disease: A Pilot Study

It is still not known how to best help children with congenital heart disease (CHD) be more active despite many previous interventions. This study aimed to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a theoretically-based physical activity (PA) counselling intervention. This is a mixed-methods pilot study of children ages 9-12 with moderate-to-complex CHD. A 12-week intervention based on behaviour change theory was designed. Participants who did not meet the World Health Organization PA guidelines (measured via accelerometers) and expressed readiness to change (measured via questionnaires) at baseline qualified. The intervention consisted of six virtual sessions with a PA counsellor, during which participants engaged in workbook activities to learn strategies to engage in PA. Intervention feasibility (recruitment, retention, completion of measures, remote implementation, session and intervention length) and acceptability (compliance, interview feedback) were assessed. PA was measured post-intervention and one year later. Thirty-three children were recruited (recruitment success: 51%). Nine out of 12 eligible participants completed the intervention (retention: 75%) with few technical difficulties (14.5%). Completion rates of PA metrics declined over the study. It took the PA counsellor 15.5 h on average per participant to conduct the intervention. Compliance was high (attendance: 100%, workbook activity completion: 64.4%). During feedback interviews, participants denoted the importance of engaging the whole family, promoting participant autonomy and empowerment, and identified lessons learned. Although this intervention was acceptable to children with CHD, the feasibility remains uncertain given recruitment challenges and time commitment required. Successful components should be considered when designing future interventions.