How Phone Calls Could Boost Survival for Heart Failure Patients Check Here!

0
233
How Phone Calls Could Boost Survival for Heart Failure Patients
How Phone Calls Could Boost Survival for Heart Failure Patients

A message from a nurse could be the vital link needed to increase the chances of survival for people with heart problems. patients.

The Smidt Heart Institute located at Cedars-Sinai situated in Los Angeles finds that check-in calls can save lives.

“There’s lots of new technologies and innovative ideas for managing those with heart disease remote, but we showed that using old-fashioned and low-tech talking via the phone, and recording the responses to “How do you feel?” This can help improve results,” said corresponding study author Dr. Ilan Kedan, who is a Professor of Cardiology in the Institute.

Around one-third of patients die within the year following being admitted to hospital in the event of heart failure which is a condition where the heart fails to pump enough blood to support organs. Around 15 to 20 percent of patients suffering from heart failure who have been hospitalized are returned in the next 30 days to be treated at a hospital, based on previous research.

To determine the effect of phone calls on outcomes the researchers studied more than 1,300 patients 50 and over who were admitted for acute heart failure from November 2011 to September 2013, in six medical centers that are academic in California.

Half of patients were randomly allocated to receive a different post-hospitalization care program.

The new program patients received an instrument to monitor blood pressure and an electronic scale. Patients were provided with an education on heart failure prior to discharge, as well as five phone calls over a 180-day period, during which nurses inquired about their weight and blood pressure and heart rate, as well as any other unusual signs.

Patients who had abnormal findings or symptoms were given more follow-up phone calls.

The remaining patients in the study received normal medical care, which included an education session with a nurse about heart failure prior to discharge and, for the vast majority of patients, a phone call from the hospital upon returning home.

The researchers also categorize patients according to the amount of health issues they suffered from (“comorbidities”) that ranged in the range of zero up to 9 or more.

Patients as being in the group with the most number of other illnesses that were also part of an intervention program were 25 percent more likely not to pass away between 30 after 180 and 30 days than those who were in the group of control. Patients in this group did not require hospitalization for in a median of 152 consecutive days, as opposed to 133 days for patients who didn’t receive the treatment.

Patients with moderate or minimal other health problems who received more calls didn’t have statistically significant difference in outcomes from those who received only one call. The rates of readmission were comparable in both group that received the intervention as well as the control as per the study.

“What distinguishes this study is the methodology we employed, and the way we classified people by the number of comorbidities they had” Kedan said in a Cedars-Sinai news announcement. “Investigators might think about using the same method to determine which patients could get the most benefit from heart failure treatments.”

It is a feasible option for people who have difficulty using a smartphone application or computer-based application.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here