REmoTe TelenURsiNg on Lung Function of Heart Failure Outpatients

Summary

Pulmonary dysfunction presented in patients with heart failure is observed as a decrease of maximal aerobic capacity compared to healthy people. Lung function deterioration manifests, in the presence of muscle fatigue and dyspnea on exertion, loss of functional capacity, and activities limitation of daily living. Those manifestation influence the perception of quality of life of patients1.

Patients with heart failure need to develop changes in lifestyle and daily activities aiming to maintain clinical control and prevent the onset of complications and disabilities. If these changes are not often performed, they might carry bigger burden to for the individual and their family and for the healthcare system due to increasing of morbidity and mortality between those patients2.

Systematic reviews conducted in developed countries (USA3, UK4 and Canada5) and developing countries (Colombia6) have shown that telehealth can produce positive effects in individuals with chronic diseases as heart failure. This kind of intervention seems to be effective in preventing hospitalizations and non-elective emergency visits.

In Brazil, telenursing is still a non-standardized and non-diffused intervention. In this perspective, telenursing represents soft new tools to provide quality care. It certainly allows the orientation and training of patients, the permanence of them at home, reduces unnecessary hospitalization. Additionally, this intervention, allows the management of nursing time and strengthens their professional autonomy7.

The principal aim of this study is to describe the protocol to be used in MRE study. The objective of MRE trial is to test the hypothesis that telenursing contributes to the improvement in lung function over the medium term, in patients with heart failure under continuous education.

Conditions

• Heart Failure

Interventions

OTHER

Telenursing monitoring

The telenursing program protocol is based on: 1. Contact the patient by telephone, weekly; 2. Distribution and explanation of the educational booklet; 3. Filling a diary of symptoms and signs; 4) Record, management and markdown visits in case of non-elective visits, hospitalization or fatal episodes. Also, the following aspects shall be observed: help requests associated with illness, adaptations for living with the disease, effects of drugs in daily life, availability of financial resources for disease management, self-image; emotional and social support.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia

  collaborator OTHER

• Federal University of Bahia

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Carolina Souza-Machado, PhD · Federal University of Bahia

• Carolina Santos, NP · Federal University of Bahia

• Bárbara Sueli Moreira, NP · Federal University of Bahia

• Loyane Stenzel, NP · Federal University of Bahia

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-11-30

Primary Completion

2015-04-30

Completion

2016-03-31

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations