Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Digital health apps are novel tools that have the potential to enhance patient care. However, their benefits in the context of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) are not well studied. This study aims to examine an app’s effectiveness in enhancing exercise performance. The app (KardioPAC) connects to both Bluetooth and cellular-enabled BP devices, which allows providers to monitor and communicate with patients remotely.
We aim to assess the app’s impact on functional capacity (metabolic equivalents /METs) compared to standard of care (SOC) CR.
This study took place at UC San Diego. Participants were recruited from CR, and randomized in a 1:1 ratio to the two study arms (KardioPAC+CR vs SOC CR). The intervention group was requested to take BP at home and upload via KardioPAC. They additionally received a BP reminder daily and got an intra-app call from the care team at least every 1-2 weeks and when needed. All patients, including SOC arm, were asked to complete a pre- and post-CR visit. In each visit, several measurements (including blood pressure, METs, and quality of life questionnaires) were recorded. The study was approved by the UCSD IRB. All statistical analyses were performed on Python 3.11.8.
From Jan 2023 to Mar 2024, 43 patients were enrolled. Table 1 shows their demographics. The mean METs changes are 3.68 vs 2.97 (Intervention vs Control, p=0.052). The mean METs percent changes are 104.39% vs 81.22% (Intervention vs Control, p=0.042), as plotted in Figure 1.
Our study found that digital tools significantly enhance CR patients’ performance, even with a small sample size. Furthermore, we found positive signals of digital tools in reducing patients’ blood pressure and improving their quality of life. Patients’ behavior could be changed by incorporating digital tools into daily practice. Our study warrants large-scale studies to investigate the underlying mechanisms and verify the broader benefits of digital tools, including physical, mental, and social improvements.