A new e-health tool in the form of a pre-programmed tablet can help patients with heart failure manage their illness, including doses of the drugs, say researchers.
The tool called OPTILOGG provides education on heart failure, helps patients control their weight and indicates when to contact the clinic, according to research presented at EuroHeartCare 2017 in Jonkoping, Sweden.
Heart failure is a serious condition in which the heart does not pump blood around the body as well as it should.
Not enough blood gets to the body, causing fatigue. The blood recedes waiting to enter the heart, leading to fluid accumulation in the legs and abdomen and fluid in the lungs (congestion).
Patients with heart failure are prescribed diuretics that act on the kidneys to produce more urine, which reduces fluid retention and congestion.
Patients are advised to control their weight, since a rapid loss may be a sign that the diuretic dose is too high, while a sudden gain may indicate fluid retention.
OPTILOGG is a pre-programmed tablet attached to a scale that provides education of heart failure, records body weight and symptoms, and titrates diuretics.
If the tool detects deterioration of heart failure, the patient is instructed to increase the dose of diuretics.
If the weight gain is above a predetermined range, patients should contact the heart failure clinic.
Patients can use OPTILOGG as needed without pressing any button and take less than 30 seconds a day, researchers said.
"Approximately 60 percent of patients with heart failure receive treatment and follow-up in primary care," said lead author Maria Liljeroos of the Malarsjukhuset Hospital in Eskilstuna, Sweden.
"Providing education to increase self-care is often a challenge in primary care because of the lack of experience about heart failure and time," said Liljero.
The study included 32 patients from four primary care heart failure clinics. Participants were 65 on average and 31% were women.
The researchers found that 94 percent of patients used OPTILOGG as expected. The nurses reported that the introduction of the tool did not increase their workload.
"Patient self-care behaviors improved by 10.5 points or 37 percent when they used OPTILOGG." The nurses said that patients felt more secure and were more committed to taking better care of themselves when they used the tool. The nurses, "said Liljero.
"Our study shows that the introduction of OPTILOGG into primary care is feasible and has the potential to help patients with heart failure to manage their condition," he said.
Tags : tablet,health tablet,heart failure,OPTILOGG,science and technology
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