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. 2018 Nov 27;8(4):39.
doi: 10.3390/jpm8040039.

The Effect of a Personalized Approach to Patient Education on Heart Failure Self-Management

Muhammad W Athar  1   2 , Janet D Record  3 , Carol Martire  4 , David B Hellmann  5 , Roy C Ziegelstein  6
Affiliations

The Effect of a Personalized Approach to Patient Education on Heart Failure Self-Management

Muhammad W Athar et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

: Personalized tools relevant to an individual patient's unique characteristics may be an important component of personalized health care. We randomized 97 patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure to receive a printout of an ultrasound image of their inferior vena cava (IVC) with an explanation of how the image is related to their fluid status (n = 50) or to receive no image and only generic heart failure information (n = 47). Adherence to medications, low-sodium diet, and daily weight measurement at baseline and 30 days after discharge were assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Specific Adherence Scale, modified to a three-item version for heart failure (HF), (MOSSAS-3HF, maximum score = 15, indicating adherence all of the time). The baseline MOSSAS-3HF scores (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) were similar for intervention and control groups (7.4 ± 3.4 vs. 6.4 ± 3.7, p = 0.91). The MOSSAS-3HF scores improved for both groups but were not different at 30 days (11.8 ± 2.8 vs. 11.7 ± 3.0, p = 0.90). Survival without readmission or emergency department (ED) visit at 30 days was similar (82.6% vs. 84.1%, p = 0.85). A personalized HF tool did not affect rates of self-reported HF treatment adherence or survival without readmission or ED visit.

Keywords: adherence; heart failure; hospital readmission; patient education; portable ultrasound.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors has a conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flowchart. Participant flow is shown for this randomized trial of a personalized educational intervention using ultrasound images of patients’ own inferior vena cava dimensions for hospitalized patients with acute decompensated heart failure. Abbreviations: IV, intravenous; IVC, inferior vena cava; EMR, electronic medical record; ED, emergency department. Primary outcome was degree of heart failure regimen adherence 30 days after discharge. Secondary outcome was survival without readmission or emergency department visit within 30 days of discharge.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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