Aims: There is a need for alternative strategies that might avoid recurrent admissions
in patients with heart failure. Home Telemonitoring (HTM) to monitor patient’s
symptoms from a distance may be useful. This study attempts to assess changes in
HTM vital signs in response to daily life activities (variations in medication, salt
intake, exercise and stress) and to stablish which variations affect weight, blood
pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR).
Methods and results: We assessed 76 patients with heart failure (mean age 76 ± 10.8
years, 75% male, mainly in NYHA class II/III and from ischaemic etiology cause).
Patients were given a calendar of interventions scheduling activities approximately
twice-a-week before measuring their vital signs. Eating salty food or a large meal were
the activities that had a significant impact on weight gain (+0.3 kg; p<0.001 and
p=0.006, respectively). Exercise and skipping a dose of medication other than diuretics
increased heart rate (+3 bpm, p=0.001 and almost +2 bpm, p=0.016, respectively).
Conclusions: Our HTM system was able to detect small changes in vital signs related
to these activities. Further studies should assess if providing such a schedule of
activities might be useful for patient education and could improve long-term
adherence to recommended lifestyle changes.