An eHealth lifestyle monitoring system used by patients after cardiac intervention had a 43% dropout rate over one year, with most dropouts occurring in the first quarter.
Observational (n=100)
Does an eHealth system for self-monitoring lifestyle behaviors result in acceptable adherence and dropout rates in patients after cardiac intervention?
Long-term lifestyle monitoring via an eHealth system is feasible after cardiac intervention, though early dropout due to participation burden remains a challenge.
Abstract Aims Lifestyle behaviours are important predictors of morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, structured lifestyle monitoring is insufficiently integrated into clinical practice. This study evaluated dropout and long-term adherence to an eHealth system for self-monitoring lifestyle behaviours in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods Patients undergoing a cardiac intervention used an eHealth system (web application with integrated health watch and chatbot) to monitor physical activity, nutrition, stress, and sleep for one year. The primary outcome was dropout, defined as system disengagement. Secondary outcomes included adherence (percentage of prescribed health watch wear time and chatbot responses) and usability. The predictive value of demographic, clinical and psychosocial factors was examined using logistic regression models. Results Of 100 patients (mean age 61.6 ± 10.4 years; 88% male; 45% percutaneous coronary intervention, 55% other intervention), there were 43 dropouts; most (27; 63%) occurred in the first quarter, with participation burden being the most cited reason (51%). Health watch adherence was higher than chatbot adherence (80.7% (66.6%–90.3%) vs. 60.8% (30.7%–82.7%), p 0.001). Low chatbot adherence was associated with poorer mental well-being, while lower health watch adherence was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. System usability was rated acceptably usable (62.2 ± 14.7). Conclusions Long-term lifestyle monitoring of multiple health-related behaviours is feasible after cardiac intervention, highlighting its potential for integration into clinical practice. Patient engagement could be enhanced by targeting subgroups at risk of low adherence, particularly in the early phase, and by reducing self-reporting burden while improving usability.
Goevaerts et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Cardiovascular disease after cardiac intervention (n=100). eHealth system for self-monitoring lifestyle behaviours was evaluated on dropout, defined as system disengagement. An eHealth lifestyle monitoring system used by patients after cardiac intervention had a 43% dropout rate over one year, with most dropouts occurring in the first quarter.