Take heart medication and track your symptoms using a smartphone app

Recruiting

What is this trial?

This trial, called ENABLE-HF, is testing a heart medication called bisoprolol in patients with heart failure who previously stopped taking beta-blockers (a class of heart medications) because they believed the medication was causing troublesome symptoms. The study will help figure out how much of your symptoms are actually caused by the medication itself versus how much might be caused by expecting side effects. You'll track your symptoms daily on a smartphone app while taking the medication, placebo, or nothing at all in a randomized order.

Many people with heart failure stop taking medications like bisoprolol because they think it's causing uncomfortable symptoms—but sometimes our expectations about side effects can make us feel symptoms that aren't actually from the medication itself. This study aims to discover, for each individual patient, whether restarting the treatment with personalized information about what's really happening might help them stay on a medication that can improve their heart health.

Do you qualify?

You likely qualify if…

you have been diagnosed with heart failure with a weakened left ventricle (ejection fraction less than 40%)
you are not currently taking any beta-blocker heart medications
you have previously tried a beta-blocker medication and stopped because you believed it was causing side effects
you are willing and able to consent to participate in the study

You likely don't qualify if…

you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to beta-blockers in the past
you have moderate to severe asthma requiring higher-level treatment
you have a very slow heart rate (below 50 beats per minute) or certain types of heart rhythm problems
you have severe low blood pressure or other conditions that make bisoprolol unsafe for you
your expected life expectancy is less than one year

What participation looks like

You will be in this study for approximately 13 weeks. First, you'll take the medication openly for 2 weeks while researchers confirm it's right for you. Then comes the main phase: 9 weeks where you'll take the medication, placebo pills, or no pills in a random order (you won't know which is which), switching every week. Throughout the study, you'll use a smartphone app to report your main symptom every day and answer weekly questions about your quality of life. Finally, you'll take the medication again openly for 2 more weeks. At the end, you'll receive a personalized report showing how much of your symptom was actually from the medication versus other causes.

Understanding why heart failure patients stop taking their heart medication

What is this trial?

Do you qualify?

What participation looks like

Trial locations(1 site)