The role of mHealth technology in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases account for 47% of all deaths in Europe, currently constituting one of the highest public relevance disease categories. Innovations in telecommunication technologies could enable the advent of cardiac telerehabilitation.Objectives: The purpose of the research was to assess the efficiency of a Cloud based system designed for telerehabilitation in patients that suffered a myocardial infarction.Materials and Methods: 69 patients enrolled in a rehabilitation program, divided in two groups, 32 performed a personalised rehabilitation program using the proposed solution and 37 patients performed individual unmonitored noninstitutionalised rehabilitation, based on the discharge report recommendations provided following their hospitalisation.Results: The cardiovascular fitness levels were improved in the group of patients that performed the online rehabilitation, with improved ejection fraction (average growth of 5%), of the estimated cardiopulmonary capacity during effort (average growth of 8%) and a decrease of the vascular stiffness (average 0.02%). From the general user and technological experience evaluation, the solution received a good acceptability score.Conclusion: This innovative type of rehabilitation offers real-time interaction between doctor and patient, to detect dangerous situations and seems feasible for conducting a telerehabilitation program.