UCSF

Background

Frailty is prevalent in lung transplant candidates (LTC) and is associated with waitlist delisting or death. We performed a pilot study to assess the safety and feasibility of a home-based, mobile health technology-facilitated intervention to treat frailty in LTC.

Methods

We performed an 8-week, nonrandomized, home-based exercise and nutrition intervention in LTC with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) frailty scores of ≤11. The intervention utilized a customized, mobile device application ("app") enabling monitoring and progression of the intervention in real time. We aimed to evaluate key process measures. Secondarily, we tested whether the intervention could improve frailty scores quantified by the SPPB and Fried Frailty Phenotype (FFP).

Results

A total of 15 subjects enrolled were 63 ± 5.7 years old; oxygen requirements ranged from 3 to 15LPM. Thirteen subjects completed the intervention. Over 108 subject-weeks, there were no adverse events. Subjects found the app engaging and easy to work with. SPPB frailty improved in 7 (54%) and FFP improved in 8 (62%). There was a strong trend toward improved frailty scores (SPPB change 1.0 ± 1.9; P = .08; FFP change -0.6 ± 1.0; P = .07).

Conclusion

In this pilot study, we found that a home-based prehabilitation program that leverages mobile health technology to target frailty in LTC is well received, safe, and capable of improving physical frailty scores.