Real-Time Air Quality Information During Walking Exercise in Heart and Lung Rehabilitation
Tests real-time air pollution guidance for people exercising in heart or lung rehabilitation.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- University of Leicester
- Where
- Leicester, United KingdomSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Effectiveness of Pollution Monitoring in Clinical Exercise Rehabilitation
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- People taking part
- 80 people, planned
- Started
- Oct 2026
- Expected to end
- 1 Aug 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Progressive Walking Exercise Programme
- Real-time air quality information and guidance
- Record updated
- 5 October 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, coronary heart disease or heart failure who are cleared for exercise rehabilitation, and also adults without these conditions.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- Men and women can join
- Disease stage
- One group has asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, coronary heart disease or heart failure and is signed off for exercise rehabilitation by a clinician. The other group has none of these conditions.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Dementia, learning disability, severe mental health disorder (not depression or anxiety) or epilepsy
- Receiving palliative care
- Advised not to exercise by a healthcare professional in the past 12 months
- Currently pregnant
- Chest pain at rest or marked unsteadiness when standing or walking
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 3 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Cohort A: Patients with long-term conditions Inclusion criteria for Cohort A are: male or female adults aged ≥18 years; clinical diagnosis of one or more of asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease (ILD), coronary heart disease (CHD), or heart failure (HF), and signed off for exercise rehabilitation by a clinician; ownership of a GPS-enabled smartphone with internet access; ability to walk outdoors for a minimum of 5 minutes without feeling uneasy or unsteady; availability to complete the 1-week baseline period, 12-week intervention and 3-month post-intervention follow-up within the planned study period; willingness and ability to give informed consent; and willingness to wear a Fitbit device for >70% of the study duration
- Inclusion criteria for Cohort B are identical to Cohort A, with the exception that participants must have no diagnosis of asthma, COPD, ILD, CHD, or HF
Who cannot take part
- Exclusion criteria for both cohorts are: diagnosis of dementia, learning disability, severe mental health disorders (excluding depression or anxiety), or epilepsy; receiving palliative care; insufficient English language ability to understand study documentation and use the platform; having been advised not to exercise by a healthcare professional within the past 12 months; currently pregnant; presence of chest pain at rest; and marked unsteadiness when standing or walking
Where in United Kingdom
- Glenfield Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Groby RoadLeicester, United KingdomContact: James Donaldson, Ph.DNo longer taking part
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The primary objective of EPIC-AIR is to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of integrating real-time air pollution monitoring into cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programmes via an online platform that delivers both exercise prescription and air pollution guidance. Specific objectives are: (1) to determine whether access to real-time air quality data reduces modelled ambient pollution exposure (PM2.5, PM10 and NO2) during outdoor physical activity in CR/PR patients and healthy volunteers; (2) to assess the feasibility of the trial design, including recruitment, randomisation, retention, adherence and completeness of outcome data; (3) to measure the impact of the intervention on physical activity levels, health-related quality of life and cardiovascular biomarkers; and (4) to inform the design and sample size of a future definitive randomised controlled trial
The 2 groups in the trial
- Air Quality Information ProvidedTreatment being tested
Participants receive the 12-week progressive walking programme through the P-STEP platform together with real-time PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 information and adaptive pollution-related guidance concerning exercise route, timing and/or intensity.
Treatment: Progressive Walking Exercise Programme and Real-time air quality information and guidance
- Air Quality Information Not ProvidedExisting treatment, for comparison
Participants receive the same 12-week progressive walking programme through the P-STEP platform, with the same exercise guidance and tracking functions, but without air-quality information or pollution-related guidance.
Treatment: Progressive Walking Exercise Programme
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Effectiveness of Pollution Monitoring in Clinical Exercise Rehabilitation (EPIC-AIR)
- Plain-language title
- Real-Time Air Quality Information During Walking Exercise in Heart and Lung RehabilitationGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 5 October 2026