Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Mar 31, 2025
Date Accepted: May 26, 2025
Development and evaluation of patient-family caregiver dyads mHealth intervention for heart failure self-care: A quasi-experimental study
ABSTRACT
Background:
There is a lack of mobile health system (mHealth) interventions that engage both patients and their family caregivers for promoting heart failure (HF) self-care.
Objective:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to develop and confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the novel mHealth intervention based on patient-family caregiver dyads for promoting HF patients’ self-care adherence.
Methods:
We developed a dyadic mHealth programs with two main features: a basic feature app and an interactive text-based chatbot. The intervention group (n=35 HF patients-family caregiver dyads) underwent a dyadic mHealth program for 24 weeks, while the control group (n=35 dyads) received the usual care. Self-care behaviors adherence, family caregivers’ contribution to self-care behaviors, and health-related quality of life were evaluated. Data was collected at the baseline and one-, three-, and six-months post-enrollment using self-administered questionnaire.
Results:
The intervention group had significantly better adherence to self-care behaviors (β=4.68, 95% CI 0.99-8.37) and family caregivers’ contribution to self-care behaviors (β=8.76, 95% CI 4.63-12.88) over six months compared to the control group. One-month follow-up scores of disease knowledge in patients (β=0.16, 95% CI 0.03-0.29) and family caregivers (β=0.12, 95% CI 0.00-0.25) was significantly greater in the intervention group compared with the control group. The intervention also had a significant effect on mutuality at the one-month follow-ups in patients (β=0.11, 95% CI 0.00-0.21) and family caregivers (β=0.15, 95% CI 0.01-0.30).
Conclusions:
The study found that the dyadic mHealth intervention was beneficial in improving patients’ self-care behaviors adherence and family caregivers’ contribution to self-care behaviors by providing information and motivation, improving health-related quality of life in HF patients-family caregiver dyads. Clinical Trial: The trial has been prospectively registered with the Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS).
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