Remote monitoring of patients with chronic heart failure: A prospective randomized study

BACKGROUND: Chronic heart failure is one of the key problems of the Russian domestic healthcare system. E-health can be used to improve medical care quality and reduce the of hospitalizations and mortality.

AIM: To examine the effect of telemedicine monitoring on mortality, frequency of hospitalizations, and clinical and functional states of patients with chronic heart failure.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, controlled, randomized study was conducted in the Central City Hospital No. 20 in Ekaterinburg (Russia), covering the period from December 2020 to December 2022. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of chronic heart failure were randomized using the envelope method into three groups: group 1, a telephone control group (n=58); group 2, a remote control group using a Russian medical platform Medsenger (n=52); and group 3, the standard control group (n=103). All patients were examined, including NT-proBNP measurement and echocardiography on the first day of the study and at 3, 6, and 12 months. The occurrence of primary and secondary outcomes was evaluated at these reference points. Stata14 and jamovi software were used for statistical processing.

RESULTS: The study involved 213 participants, and all three groups were comparable in terms of basic demographic and clinical characteristics. The advantage of remote control (groups 1 and 2) over face-to-face observation in reducing cardiovascular mortality was observed after 3 (odds ratio 2.73, 95% confidence interval 1.1–7.39; p=0.042) and 12 (odds ratio 2.1, 95% confidence interval 1.1–3.7; p=0.027) months and that in reducing the occurrence of the combined primary endpoint (odds ratio 2.1, 95% confidence interval 1.1–5.6; p=0.015) after 12 months. The use of the Medsenger platform also demonstrated an advantage over face-to-face observation in the development of the combined secondary endpoint (odds ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 0.19–0.81; p=0.011) after 3 months and over telephone control by a nurse after 12 months in reducing cardiovascular mortality (odds ratio 0.177, 95% confidence interval 0.06–0.487; p=0.021) and development of the combined secondary endpoint (odds ratio 0.427, 95% confidence interval 0.189–0.964; p=0.041). When using the Medsenger platform, the ejection fraction increased from 47% initially to 55% after 12 months (p=0.004). The NT-proBNP level decreased from 817 to 582 pg/mL (p <0.001) after 3 months and then to 233 pg/mL after 12 months (p <0.001).

CONCLUSION: Remote monitoring protocols can be a good alternative to the traditional face-to-face monitoring of patients with chronic heart failure, which may improve clinical and functional health indicators.