Effectiveness of Home-Based Health Messaging for Patients With Hypertension and Diabetes

April 6, 2015 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs

Effectiveness of Care Coordination in Managing Medically Complex Patients

Patients treated at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are older and have multiple chronic conditions. Two of the most common conditions in the VA population are hypertension (HTN) and Type 2 diabetes (DM). Unfortunately, DM and HTN have few perceptible symptoms on a daily basis that motivate patients to comply with treatment recommendations and lifestyle changes. Thus, serious complications and long-term adverse outcomes are common in both of these conditions.

Home telehealth is a general term used to describe the delivery of health care services to the patient's home using audio, video, or other telecommunications technologies. Although home telehealth offers a number of theoretical advantages, few well-designed controlled clinical trials have been conducted to establish efficacy and cost benefit. Furthermore, projects to date have focused on special populations, e.g., heart failure or mental illnesses. Since home telehealth may hold the most promise for individuals dealing with multiple chronic illnesses, there is a need for population-based studies addressing the needs of patients in primary care settings.

Care coordination, as defined by the VHA Office of Care Coordination, is a process of assessment and ongoing monitoring of patients using home telehealth to proactively enable prevention, investigation, and treatment that enhances the health of patients and prevents unnecessary and inappropriate use of resources. Care coordination embeds technology into a care management process. This results in the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients treated at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are older and have multiple chronic conditions. Two of the most common conditions in the VA population are hypertension (HTN) and Type 2 diabetes (DM). Unfortunately, DM and HTN have few perceptible symptoms on a daily basis that motivate patients to comply with treatment recommendations and lifestyle changes. Thus, serious complications and long-term adverse outcomes are common in both of these conditions.

Home telehealth is a general term used to describe the delivery of health care services to the patient's home using audio, video, or other telecommunications technologies. Although home telehealth offers a number of theoretical advantages, few well-designed controlled clinical trials have been conducted to establish efficacy and cost benefit. Furthermore, projects to date have focused on special populations, e.g., heart failure or mental illnesses. Since home telehealth may hold the most promise for individuals dealing with multiple chronic illnesses, there is a need for population-based studies addressing the needs of patients in primary care settings.

Care coordination, as defined by the VHA Office of Care Coordination, is a process of assessment and ongoing monitoring of patients using home telehealth to proactively enable prevention, investigation, and treatment that enhances the health of patients and prevents unnecessary and inappropriate use of resources. Care coordination embeds technology into a care management process. This results in the right care, at the right time, in the right place.The primary objective of the proposed study is to evaluate the efficacy of care coordination in improving outcomes in veterans with co-morbid DM and HTN, the two most common chronic conditions seen in VA Primary Care clinics. The specific aim is to compare outcomes of patients who receive the care coordination intervention to outcomes of patients who receive usual care. Three hypotheses will be tested: Compared to subjects who receive usual care, subjects who receive the care coordination intervention will have: 1) improved clinical measures [hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and systolic blood pressure (SBP)] at 6 and 12 months after study enrollment; 2) improved disease self-management (knowledge, self-efficacy, and adherence) at 6 and 12 months after study enrollment; and 3) improved quality of life and satisfaction with care at 6 and 12 months after study enrollment.Subjects wererecruited from VA Primary Care clinic rolls. 302 subjects were randomized to three groups: low-intensity monitoring plus nurse care management intervention (n=102); high-intensity monitoring plus nurse care management intervention (n=93); and usual care (n=107). In both intervention groups patients transmitted vital signs daily. In addition, the low intensity group answered two general health questions; the high intensity group responded to a complete range of questions focused on diabetes and hypertension, and received educational tips. The intervention groups participated in the protocol for 6 months following enrollment. Data were collected at baseline and at 6 and 12 months, including measures of clinical outcomes, quality of life, knowledge, adherence, self-efficacy, and satisfaction with care. In addition to these measures, data were collected to estimate the cost of the home telehealth intervention. Most subjects were male (98%) Caucasians (96%) with a mean age of 68 years (range 40-89 years).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

302

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52246-2208
        • Iowa City VA Health Care System, Iowa City, IA

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients must obtain their primary care at the Iowa City VAMC and have been diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension. Must be cognitively intact and have a telephone line in the home.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with corrected vision worse than 20/40 or cognitive impairment (Mini-Mental Status Exam score of 17 or less) will not be eligible.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Arm 1
Behavioral: In Home Health Messaging Device

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Blood Pressure and Hemaglobin A1c

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Knowledge Compliance Self-efficacy Quality of life Satisfaction with care

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bonnie J. Wakefield, PhD RN, Iowa City VA Health Care System, Iowa City, IA

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2005

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 1, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 1, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

July 12, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 7, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2015

Last Verified

January 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NRI 03-312

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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