Telemedicine Intervention to Improve Long-Term Risk Factor Control and Body Composition in Persons with High Cardiovascular Risk: Results from a Randomized Trial: Telehealth strategies may offer an advantage over standard institutional based interventions for improvement of cardiovascular risk in high-risk patients long-term.

Pogosova, Nana; Yufereva, Yulia; Sokolova, Olga; Yusubova, Anara; Suvorov, Alexander; Saner, Hugo (2021). Telemedicine Intervention to Improve Long-Term Risk Factor Control and Body Composition in Persons with High Cardiovascular Risk: Results from a Randomized Trial: Telehealth strategies may offer an advantage over standard institutional based interventions for improvement of cardiovascular risk in high-risk patients long-term. Global heart, 16(1), p. 21. Ubiquity Press 10.5334/gh.825

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Background

Telehealth strategies are increasingly used to support people at high cardiovascular risk long-term, but is it unclear if these interventions are effective at improving cardiovascular risk.

Objective

To evaluate the effects of a telemedicine technology-based program on risk factor control and body composition in patients at high cardiovascular risk.

Methods

This is a population based randomized controlled trial. 100 patients at high and very high cardiovascular risk were randomly assigned to a telemedicine technology-based program consisting of: Comprehensive counseling on risk factors delivered by a physician; biweekly remote support via phone delivered by a trained nurse during the first three months after enrollment; and a control group receiving routine care with individual single-session counseling on patients' current risk factors without further support. The follow-up period was 1 year.

Results

Mean age of participants was 59.9 ± 4.5 years, 80% were women. Weight (-0.582; p < 0.001), waist circumference (-0.429; p = 0.01), body mass index (-0.216; p < 0.001) diastolic blood pressure (-0.881; p = 0.04), total cholesterol (-0.149; p = 0.01) and LDL cholesterol (-0.123; p = 0.003) were lower in the intervention group compared to the control group after 12-month. Body fat mass was also lower (-0.352; p = 0.01) and lean mass was higher (0.92; p = 0.03) in the intervention group. Anxiety scores (-2.5; p < 0.002) and depression scores (-2.6; p < 0.001) were also lower in the intervention group.

Conclusions

Among older people at high cardiovascular risk, the addition of telehealth strategies using remote support by phone calls over a period of 3 month resulted in small but significant improvements of cardiovascular risk factors, body composition, anxiety, and depression which are maintained long-term. Such telehealth strategies may offer an advantage over standard institution-based interventions.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Saner, Hugo Ernst

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

2211-8160

Publisher:

Ubiquity Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Andrea Flükiger-Flückiger

Date Deposited:

16 Apr 2021 12:25

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:50

Publisher DOI:

10.5334/gh.825

PubMed ID:

33833945

Uncontrolled Keywords:

anxiety depression high cardiovascular risk obesity physical inactivity preventive counseling risk factors smoking telemedicine technology unhealthy nutrition

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/155829

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/155829

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