Activity Counselling Early post-Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: the ACE-PCI trial.

Physiotherapist-led physical activity counselling: Participants that are allocated to the intervention group will receive a once-only 30-minute physical activity counselling session from a physiotherapist anytime prior to discharge following their PCI. The average length-of-stay in hospital following a PCI has been reported as 1–2 days. This session will be recorded in the patients medical record. Physiotherapists are well-placed to promote physical activity, with evidence that physiotherapists can counsel effectively for physical activity behaviour change, treating and considering any underlying conditions that may impair someone’s physical capacity to be physically active. Within the counselling session the physiotherapist will provide general physical activity advice, explain the benefits of physical activity, the physical activity guidelines post-PCI according to the FITT principle (frequency, intensity, time and type), barriers and enablers of physical activity, and safety measures including the warning signs of a heart attack. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation will also be discussed in more detail, outlining that exercise screening will be performed at the start of the program allowing a more individually tailored exercise prescription. The main purpose of this counselling session is to encourage participants to start being physically active immediately after discharge, according to their medical status, recommending light-to-moderate physical activity which is gradually progressed and motivating them to attend exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. The total duration of the study is 3-weeks.