Key result
ITEC-CHF telemonitoring earns a 91% ease-of-use rating while boosting participant confidence in weight management.
Why the study?
Telemonitoring can remotely support outpatients in self-managing CHF, but little is known regarding its usability and patients' willingness to engage with the technology.
Does the ITEC-CHF telemonitoring program have good usability and patient acceptance in patients with chronic heart failure?
Cross-Sectional (n=67)
Does the ITEC-CHF telemonitoring program have good usability and patient acceptance in patients with chronic heart failure?
The ITEC-CHF telemonitoring program was highly rated for usability and well accepted by chronic heart failure patients, providing perceived benefits for self-management.
Supports telemonitoring acceptance for HF self-management; leaves open outcome benefits in prospective trials.
BACKGROUND Telemonitoring enables care providers to remotely support outpatients in self-managing chronic heart failure (CHF), but little is known about the usability and patients’ willingness to engage with this technology. OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate feedback from patients with CHF following participation in the Innovative Telemonitoring Enhanced Care program for CHF (ITEC-CHF) study. METHODS The telemonitoring intervention consisted of three components: remote weight monitoring, structured telephone support, and nurse-led collaborative care. Participants were provided with electronic weighing scales (W550; ForaCare), and a computer tablet (Galaxy Tab A; Samsung). They were asked to weigh themselves on the provided scales daily. Telemonitoring was integrated with a personal assistance call service and a nurse care service according to their workflows in usual care. Feedback on the usability of ITEC-CHF was collected via survey from study participants following 6 months of receiving telemonitoring care for their body weight. Survey responses were provided on a 5-point Likert scale and through open-ended questions to determine participants’ perceived benefits and barriers to using ITEC-CHF. RESULTS A total of 67 participants (49/67, 73% male), with a mean age of 69.8 (SD 12.4) years completed the survey. The majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the ITEC-CHF program was easy to use (61/67, 91%), easy to navigate (51/65, 78%), useful (59/65, 91%), and made them feel more confident in managing their weight (57/67, 85%). Themes related to participants’ perceptions of telemonitoring included increased support for early intervention of clinical deterioration, improved compliance to daily weighing, a sense of reassurance, and improved self-care and accountability, among others. CONCLUSIONS ITEC-CHF was rated highly on usability and was well accepted by users as part of their routine self-management activities. Participants were willing to use telemonitoring because they perceived a broad spectrum of benefits for CHF management. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ID ACTRN 12614000916640; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366691.
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Chen et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional in Chronic heart failure (n=67). Innovative Telemonitoring Enhanced Care program for CHF (ITEC-CHF) was evaluated on Usability (agreed or strongly agreed the program was easy to use). The ITEC-CHF telemonitoring program was rated as easy to use by 91% of participants and useful by 91%, with 85% feeling more confident in managing their weight.
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