A Cardiac Surgery Virtual Nutrition Intervention Program Feasibility Study-VIP Study Protocol

The proposed VIP study will utilize an interventional feasibility design to implement and evaluate the impact of a virtual nutrition intervention prehab program on cardiac surgery patients. The VIP study looks to measure patient adherence and acceptability, and practicality of the remote platform in hopes it will illicit change to the current standard of nutrition care being provided to cardiac surgery patients.

The current standards of care do not call for dietitian involvement for cardiac surgery patients' pre-surgery and little to no involvement for patients not receiving CABG surgery. This feasibility study looks to address this gap in current patient nutrition care.

The study intervention will provide eligible patients (n=20) with access to four 25-30 minute virtual sessions with a registered dietitian during the two-week period prior to surgery. The dietitian will provide the patient with nutrition counseling prior to the patient's elective cardiac surgery. Zoom (or equivalent) software will be utilized as a remote platform to connect the dietitian virtually with participants during all sessions. The four sessions will follow the same presentation format and will provide all participants with identical nutrition education with curriculum content progressing in each subsequent session. Each session will be comprised of protein education and goal setting, with education content building on previous sessions with a goal of improving patient protein intake perioperatively.

Data will be collected on: (1) participant demographics, (2) physical function, (3) nutritional status and (4) nutrition literacy.

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years or older
• undergoing non-emergent/elective cardiac surgery

Exclusion criteria

• not able to communicate in English (read or write)
• in-patients (urgent or emergent care)
• patients who self report protein supplementation on a regular basis