Game on: social rewards may get heart patients moving

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: Adults (age ≥ 18 years) who: 1) have a diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection; 2) have an ejection fraction ≥ 50%; 3) meet ONE of the following criteria: any history of hospitalization with a primary diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, BNP \> 75 pg/mL (\> 225 pg/mL in patients with atrial fibrillation), H2FPEF score ≥ 5, OR elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure on right heart catheterization (≥ 15 mm Hg at rest or ≥ 25 mm Hg with exercise); 4) own a smartphone or tablet capable of connecting to the internet; 5) are able to read English; 6) are able to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: Participants will be excluded if they are currently participating in another interventional physical activity study, have medical conditions prohibiting ambulation without assistance (including use of an assistive device other than a cane) or participation in an exercise program, if a 9-month physical activity program is infeasible or unsafe, upcoming cardiovascular procedures (e.g. stent or surgery) or if the patient is at a high level of physical activity (\>7500 steps per day) or very low level of physical activity (\< 1000 steps/day) at baseline. Patients taking \> 7500 steps/day will be excluded based on data showing that increasing step count beyond 7500 steps/day does not improve outcomes in all-comer populations, and to ensure that we are recruiting a population of patients with symptomatic HF. Patients taking \< 1000 steps/day at baseline will be excluded to ensure that we will not enroll very frail patients with a need for more intensive exercise training or physical therapy. To ensure that we are capturing patients who are limited in their exertional capacity by heart failure, we will also exclude patients with dementia, end-stage renal disease on dialysis, cirrhosis, cardiac surgery or transcatheter valve replacement within the last year, severe aortic stenosis or severe mitral stenosis.