Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jul 5, 2020
Date Accepted: Jul 26, 2020
Integrative Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation via Hospital-Community-Family-Based Telemedicine (HCFT-AF) Program: A Pilot Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
The potential effectiveness of integrated management in further improving the prognosis of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has been demonstrated, howbeit, the best strategy to implement it is still undiscovered.
Objective:
Objective:
This study aims to ascertain the feasibility of implementing the integrated AF care via Hospital-Community-Family-Based Telemedicine (HCFT-AF) Program.
Methods:
Methods:
In this single-arm, pre–post design pilot study, a multidisciplinary teamwork, supported by efficient infrastructures, provide patients with integrated AF care followed the Atrial fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway. Eligible patients are continuously recruited and followed for at least 4 months. The patients drug adherence, AF-relevant lifestyles and behaviors were assessed at baseline and 4 months. The acceptability, feasibility, and usability of the HCFT-AF technology devices and the engagement with the HCFT-AF program was measured at 4 months.
Results:
Results:
A total of 73 patients (mean age, 68.42 years; 52% were male) were enrolled in November 2019 with a median follow-up of 132 days (IQR 125–138). The patients’ drug adherence was significantly improved after 4-months intervention (P <.001). More than 90% (64/68) of merited patients received anticoagulant therapy at 4 months, and none of them received antiplatelet therapy unless there is an additional indication. In addition, the AF-relevant lifestyles and behaviors were ameliorated to varying degrees at the end of the study. In general, the majority of patients had good feedback on the HCFT-AF intervention. More than 75% (54/71) of patients used the software or website more than once a week and accomplished clinic visits as scheduled.
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
The AF-integrated care model described in this study is associated with improved drug adherence, standardized therapy rate, and lifestyles of patients, which highlights the possibility to better deliver integrated AF management. Trial Registration: Clinical Trial: Registry name: Integrative Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation via Hospital-Community-Family-Based Telemedicine (HCFT-AF) Program URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT04127799.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.