An ancillary study found improvements in a composite heart failure quality score after patients used a mobile app to help them manage their heart failure.
Findings from a DCRI-led study suggest that the use of digital tools within care for heart failure may improve patients’ self-care.
The study, which was presented today at by DCRI fellow Vishal Rao, MD, was an optional ancillary study within the larger DCRI-led CONNECT-HF trial to test the HealthStar mobile app used within the trial.
The app was designed to support guideline-based activities to help patients manage their heart failure. The app leveraged evidence-based behavioral techniques to deliver personalized educational content about heart failure and help patients manage taking their medication. The app also tracked key biometrics.
The study team offered usage of the app to 2,431 eligible patients after discharge from the hospital. Of these, 15 percent (356 patients) accepted and began to use the app.
After matching app users to a group of nonusers with similar characteristics, composite scores for heart failure quality were better among the group who used the app. However, time to re-hospitalization and death rates were similar between the two groups regardless of app usage.
“This study shows promise that a digital tool such as a mobile app could help patients improve the care they administer at home and out of the hospital,” Rao said. “This warrants further study, but digital tools could be a key to improved personalized care as we partner with patients and empower them to help improve their quality of life.”
Primary results from CONNECT-HF, which was conducted between 2017 and 2020, were presented in March at the American College of Cardiology 2021 Scientific Sessions. That study, which was led by DCRI’s Adam DeVore, MD, MHS,found that an intervention consisting of site-level audits and feedback did not result in a significant improvement in heart failure care.
“CONNECT-HF was the first large multicenter trial to implement mobile health technology in longitudinal care following hospitalizations for heart failure,” DeVore said. “As digital health technologies evolve, future work must also understand how best to engage different groups of patients while reducing risks of expanding health disparities through digital technology use.”