Outcomes of a Mobile Phone Intervention for Heart Failure in a Minority County Hospital Population

Background:Chronic heart failure (HF) causes significant morbidity, mortality, and cost. Managing HF requires considerable self-management skills and self-efficacy. Little information exists about feasibility and potential impact of a mobile monitoring intervention to improve self-efficacy and quality of life (QoL) among minority patients with HF.Materials and Methods:We developed a mobile phone-assisted case management program and tested its impact on outcomes in minority patients with HF in a 2:1 randomized controlled trial. We evaluated self-care efficacy, knowledge, behavior, and QoL at baseline and 3 months.Results:We enrolled 61 participants: intervention 42, usual care 19; mean ageSD: 55 +/- 10 years; 64% male; 75% white Hispanic, 25% African American; and 56% high school education or less. Comparison of the two groups with respect to changes from baseline to 3 months showed significant differences for Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease (2.09 +/- 2.32, p-value=0.005); health distress scale (-1.1 +/- 1.5, p-value=0.017); and QoL (Role Physical, 23.6 +/- 44.5, p-value=0.042, and General Health, 11.1 +/- 14.2, p-value=0.012).Conclusions:A mobile phone-based disease management program may help improve self-care efficacy and QoL in a minority population and offers a modality to help reduce ethnic disparity.