Get Fit for Function

September 9, 2025 updated by: University of Chicago

Get Fit for Function Pilot Study

The purpose of this study will be to implement and evaluate a prehab program for pre-frail and frail adults who need to undergo thoracic surgery. The study team hypothesizes using an implementation framework will increase the reach, effectiveness, adoption, and implementation of the prehab program.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Approximately 70% of thoracic surgery patients are pre-frail or frail, characterized by reduced strength, endurance, and physiologic function. Frailty is associated with poor perioperative outcomes, including increased complications, length of stay, post-discharge institutionalization, healthcare costs, and mortality. As a result, surgical and geriatric clinical societies now recommend including a frailty assessment in older adult pre-operative surgical evaluations. To mitigate the risks associated with frailty, prehabilitation (prehab) has been included as a component of the American College of Surgeons "Strong for Surgery" quality initiative. Evidence-based practices to optimize preoperative health have been shown to improve physical conditioning and return to autonomy, as well as, reduce length of stay, postoperative complications, and healthcare costs. Older patients who need surgery view prehab favorably, particularly if it is home-based, recommended by a medical professional, and free. The primary objective will be to conduct a feasibility evaluation using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. The secondary objectives will be to measure functional status and clinical outcomes longitudinally in patients undergoing prehab.

Participants will receive the prehab program from 2-12 weeks prior to undergoing elective inpatient thoracic surgery. Participants will complete surveys at 2-3 weeks, 2 months, 3-4 months, and 6 months after surgery.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 18, of any racial or ethnic origin
  • Will be undergoing elective thoracic surgery lung resection using thoracic approach (thoracotomy, Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), Robotic-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (RATS)
  • Able to complete baseline evaluations at time of enrollment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to give informed consent
  • Unable to read/speak English
  • Age <17

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Device Feasibility
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Prehabilitation Program Participant
We will evaluate whether use of a personal device (the Apple Watch) could help medical professionals assess patients' pre-surgery prehab state. It will also assess whether patients are willing to use a personal device and engage in prehab exercise and whether the device can enhance prehab uptake. The intervention is to also offer patients the Exercise Flipbook, to send them a reminder to exercise and to send them notifications to track their exercise.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
The change of functional status using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework for implementation evaluation.
Time Frame: At Visit 1 two to twelve weeks prior to undergoing elective inpatient thoracic surgery until post-operative Follow-up Visit up to 6 months.
At Visit 1 two to twelve weeks prior to undergoing elective inpatient thoracic surgery until post-operative Follow-up Visit up to 6 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Number of Participants with Postoperative Complications
Time Frame: From Visit 2 at the time of operation until post-operative Follow-up Visit up to 6 months.
From Visit 2 at the time of operation until post-operative Follow-up Visit up to 6 months.
Number of Participants length of hospital stay post-operative.
Time Frame: From Visit 2 at the time of operation until day of discharge.
From Visit 2 at the time of operation until day of discharge.
Number of Participants discharge to not-home post-operative.
Time Frame: From Visit 2 at the time of operation until Visit 3 for post operative clinic visit.
From Visit 2 at the time of operation until Visit 3 for post operative clinic visit.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Maria Madariaga, MD, University of Chicago

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 11, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 8, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 11, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 16, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 9, 2025

Last Verified

September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB24-0421

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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