Systematic review shows heart failure apps improve self-care and engagement, suggesting further evaluation needed.
Aim: To explore the effectiveness of heart failure-designated applications (‘apps’), with embedded alerts, on patient engagement with daily weight monitoring, help-seeking behaviour, and hospitalisation. Methods: A systematic search of nine databases identified three studies (two randomised controlled trials, one prospective study) evaluating three apps. As help-seeking and weight monitoring were not directly measured, patient-reported self-care behaviour was used as a proxy. A meta-analysis was not possible owing to study heterogeneity. Results: The two randomised controlled trials reported high app engagement rates, supporting feasibility in heart failure populations. All studies reported significant improvements in self-care (P≤0.05). One randomised controlled trial also reported a significant reduction in hospital bed days (P<0.05), though not in admissions. The prospective study observed a low hospitalisation rate of 3%. Conclusions: Apps with embedded alerts to enhance heart failure self-care show promise. However, their impact on prompting help-seeking and weight-monitoring engagement requires direct evaluation.
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Caples et al. (2025) studied this question.
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