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. 2017 Aug 11;1(2):e3.
doi: 10.2196/cardio.7848.

A Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Self-Care in Patients With Heart Failure: Pilot Randomized Control Trial

Ponrathi Athilingam #  1 , Bradlee Jenkins #  1 , Marcia Johansson #  1 , Miguel Labrador  2
Affiliations

A Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Self-Care in Patients With Heart Failure: Pilot Randomized Control Trial

Ponrathi Athilingam et al. JMIR Cardio. .

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a progressive chronic disease affecting 6.5 million Americans and over 15 million individuals globally. Patients with HF are required to engage in complex self-care behaviors. Although the advancements in medicine have enabled people with HF to live longer, they often have poor health-related quality of life and experience severe and frequent symptoms that limit several aspects of their lives. Mobile phone apps have not only created new and interactive ways of communication between patients and health care providers but also provide a platform to enhance adherence to self-care management.

Objective: The aim of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of a newly developed mobile app (HeartMapp) in improving self-care behaviors and quality of life of patients with HF and to calculate effect sizes for sample size calculation for a larger study.

Methods: This was a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial. Participants were enrolled in the hospital before discharge and followed at home for 30 days. The intervention group used HeartMapp (n=9), whereas the control group (n=9) received HF education. These apps were downloaded onto their mobile phones for daily use.

Results: A total of 72% (13/18) participants completed the study; the mean age of the participants was 53 (SD 4.02) years, 56% (10/18) were females, 61% (11/18) lived alone, 33% (6/18) were African Americans, and 61% (11/18) used mobile phone to get health information. The mean engagement with HeartMapp was 78%. Results were promising with a trend that participants in the HeartMapp group had a significant mean score change on self-care management (8.7 vs 2.3; t3.38=11, P=.01), self-care confidence (6.7 vs 1.8; t2.53=11, P=.28), and HF knowledge (3 vs -0.66; t2.37=11, P=.04. Depression improved among both groups, more so in the control group (-1.14 vs -5.17; t1.97=11, P=.07). Quality of life declined among both groups, more so in the control group (2.14 vs 9.0; t-1.43=11, P=.18).

Conclusions: The trends demonstrated in this pilot feasibility study warrant further exploration on the use of HeartMapp to improve HF outcomes.

Trial registration: Pilot study, no funding from National agencies, hence not registered.

Keywords: heart failure; mobile applications; quality of life; self-care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The corresponding author, Ponrathi Athilingam and the co-author Miguel Labrador have received funding from the Florida Hi-Tech Corridor and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory as well as National Science Foundation Innovation-Corps award as Co-PIs for the development of the mobile Health Application “HeartMapp”. This pilot study was made possible from funding from University of South Florida, College of Nursing. The HeartMapp is copyrighted by University of South Florida and patent pending for Drs Ponrathi Athilingam and Miguel Labrador. The authors declare no conflicts of interest in the development of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual framework of information, motivation, and behavior, and patient engagement.
Figure 2
Figure 2
HeartMapp features.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Congestive heart failure (CHF) info app.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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