Department of Medical Education and Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, Washington, United States.
Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States.
Appl Clin Inform. 2024 Aug;15(4):709-716. doi: 10.1055/a-2273-5278. Epub 2024 Feb 21.
Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome noted on approximately one in eight death certificates in the United States. Vital to reducing complications of heart failure and preventing hospital readmissions is adherence to heart failure self-care routines. Mobile health offers promising opportunities for enhancing self-care behaviors by facilitating tracking and timely reminders.
We sought to investigate three characteristics of heart failure patients with respect to their heart failure self-care behaviors: (1) internet use to search for heart failure information; (2) familiarity with mobile health apps and devices; and (3) perceptions of using activity trackers or smartwatches to aid in their heart failure self-care.
Forty-nine heart failure patients were asked about their internet and mobile health usage. The structured interview included questions adapted from the Health Information National Trends Survey.
Over 50% of the patients had utilized the internet to search for heart failure information in the past 12 months, experience using health-related apps, and thoughts that an activity tracker or smartwatch could help them manage heart failure. Qualitative analysis of the interviews revealed six themes: trust in their physicians, alternatives to mobile health apps, lack of need for mobile health devices, financial barriers to activity tracker and smartwatch ownership, benefits of tracking and reminders, and uncertainty of their potential due to lack of knowledge.
Trust in their physicians was a major factor for heart failure patients who reported not searching for health information on the internet. While those who used mobile health technologies found them useful, patients who did not use them were generally unaware of or unknowledgeable about them. Considering patients' preferences for recommendations from their physicians and tendency to search for heart failure information including treatment and management options, patient-provider discussions about mobile health may improve patient knowledge and impact their usage.
心力衰竭是美国约八分之一死亡证明上注明的一种复杂临床综合征。为了减少心力衰竭并发症和预防住院再入院，遵守心力衰竭自我护理常规至关重要。移动医疗为增强自我护理行为提供了有前途的机会，可促进跟踪和及时提醒。
我们试图调查心力衰竭患者的三个特征，以了解他们的心力衰竭自我护理行为：（1）使用互联网搜索心力衰竭信息；（2）熟悉移动健康应用程序和设备；（3）使用活动追踪器或智能手表辅助心力衰竭自我护理的看法。
询问 49 名心力衰竭患者有关其互联网和移动健康使用情况。结构化访谈包括改编自《健康信息国家趋势调查》的问题。
超过 50%的患者在过去 12 个月中曾使用互联网搜索心力衰竭信息，使用过健康相关应用程序，并认为活动追踪器或智能手表可以帮助他们管理心力衰竭。访谈的定性分析揭示了六个主题：对医生的信任、移动健康应用程序的替代方案、对移动健康设备的需求不足、活动追踪器和智能手表所有权的经济障碍、跟踪和提醒的好处，以及由于缺乏知识而对其潜力的不确定性。
对医生的信任是报告未在互联网上搜索健康信息的心力衰竭患者的主要因素。虽然那些使用移动健康技术的人认为它们很有用，但那些不使用它们的人通常对它们不了解或不了解。考虑到患者对医生建议的偏好以及对包括治疗和管理选项在内的心力衰竭信息的搜索倾向，患者与提供者之间关于移动健康的讨论可能会提高患者的知识水平并影响其使用情况。
