The study involved patients suffering from cardiovascular disease and people at risk. Participants had access to an app with all the necessary information about the disease. Online health risk calculators, incentive emails, and monitoring of behavioral lifestyle targets were provided. The average follow-up period was about 12 months. The control group consisted of 934 individuals, approximately 67.6 years of age (±8.1). 77% of the patients were male, and 41% had existing cardiovascular disease. 33.3% of the patients had coronary heart disease, 3.6% had peripheral artery disease, 3% had chronic kidney disease, 10.8% had atrial fibrillation, 1.1% had heart failure, and 9.3% of the patients surveyed had a previous stroke (Redfern et al., 2020). Participants were randomized and divided into two groups. One had access to the CONNECT web app in addition to their usual care, and the other received their usual care at a medical facility.
The first strength of the study is the individual approach to patients based on their diagnosis, age, and gender. Considering each patient and accepting their differences increases the accuracy of the results and makes it possible to apply them to the widest range of patients. The second strength may be that study participants received many features of this app that helped them to be more significant about their diagnosis and provided support. For people with these serious illnesses or at risk of having them, it is important to have some knowledge to keep their health up to date.
The first disadvantage is the focus on healthcare facilities in large cities. The data can differ if researchers conduct the same study in a small city. Some clinics may need more modern technical equipment to implement this innovation. Another disadvantage is that the innovation is applied only to certain groups of people. Since most patients refused to participate, and others were not medically suitable, the application of this technology is aimed at a certain circle of people.
The results did not differ significantly between the groups. Adherence to the medications prescribed in the guidelines did not differ significantly according to the frequency of use of the intervention (p = 0.44) (Redfern et al., 2020). There were no significant changes in mean LDL cholesterol (p = 0.24) and BP (p = 0.92) (Redfern et al., 2020). These numbers mean that most participants were not active users of the app. Those people who did use the technology increased their physical fitness and improved their performance. Because of the low significance, no studies were conducted. Because most participants dropped out of the study, its accuracy can be assessed as low.
The study yielded a different result because of the small number of participants. This makes it impossible to evaluate the use of the innovation in a broader patient population. It can only be used in modern clinics and by people with certain data. On the other hand, some of the patients in the intervention group showed positive results in behavior and health indications, which gives hope for further development of the technology.
Reference
Redfern, J., Coorey, G., Mulley, J., Scaria, A., Neubeck, L., Hafiz, N., Pitt, C., Weir, K., Forbes, J., Parker, S., Bampi, F., Coenen, A., Enright, G., Wong, A., Nguyen, T., Harris, M., Zwar, N., Chow, C. K., Rodgers, A., Heeley, E., Panaretto, K., Lau, A., Hayman, N., Usherwood, T & Peiris, D. (2020). A digital health intervention for cardiovascular disease management in primary care (CONNECT) randomized controlled trial. NPJ digital medicine, 3(1), 1-9.