The Effect of Peer-Mentor Support for Older Vulnerable Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease-A 24-Week Randomized Controlled Trial.

The trial was single-center and open-label, and patients, mentors, and outcome assessors knew allocation, which could bias self-reported outcomes. The primary outcome was self-reported cardiac rehabilitation attendance collected by telephone interview. The study was powered only for initial cardiac rehabilitation attendance, so null results for anxiety, depression, quality of life, physical activity, diet, and self-efficacy may be due to low power. Cardiac rehabilitation attendance was higher than expected, and baseline self-efficacy was high, so the participants may have been more resourceful than typical vulnerable patients. The mentor support dose varied widely; the median number of contacts was five, and 16 intervention participants reported no need for mentorship. Very few participants were born outside Denmark, including only two from non-Western countries, despite non-Western background being part of the vulnerable definition. Eligibility was changed after trial commencement from myocardial infarction to ischemic heart disease because too few patients met the original criterion. Only mortality during the study period was collected as additional safety data, and two intervention patients died before mentor matching.

Do not conclude that peer mentoring improves mental health, quality of life, diet, physical activity, or self-efficacy. The trial was powered only for cardiac rehabilitation attendance, and those secondary outcomes did not show significant differences.