Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Background: Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) survivors often experience angina and recurrent ACS post-hospitalization. These events are potentially preventable if patients report recurrent angina to healthcare providers (HCPs) before symptoms progress. Our digital health intervention (DHI) incorporates prospective symptom monitoring, data visualization outputs of symptoms, and individualized feedback to users for how/when to report symptom changes to HCPs.
Aim/Methods: A pilot RCT 2-group repeated measures design was used to test feasibility and estimate the initial efficacy of the DHI to improve self-care in response to recurrent angina for adults hospitalized for ACS. The intervention (INT) group received education through the DHI followed by a booster session within 30 days of baseline. The attention control (AC) group received dietary education to mimic time/attention. Outcomes (Self-care of Coronary Heart Disease Inventory, V3) were collected at baseline 30 and 90 days for both groups.
Results: We enrolled 20 adults (mean age 67.7 yrs; 40% women; 35% minority). Retention was 90%: n=1 died within 48 hours of randomization; n=1 dropped out before completing the baseline survey. Mean adherence to self-care activities for the INT group was high (95%, SD 7.9 at 30 days; 88.9%, SD 21.5 at 90 days). Symptom monitoring and management scores (ANCOVA adjusted for baseline) for both groups increased over time, more so in the INT group. Symptom monitoring was significantly higher in the INT group at 90-days compared with the AC group (p=0.040). All adults who completed the study indicated that they would recommend the intervention to others.
Conclusion: These results demonstrated that our DHI was feasible and acceptable to most study participants, adherence to self-care activities was high, and there was a signal for preliminary efficacy in the sample studied.