Trial of an Interactive CD-Program on 6 Months Readmission Rate in Patients With Heart Failure

April 3, 2006 updated by: Swedish Heart Lung Foundation

A Randomised, Controlled Trial of an Interactive CD-Program on 6 Months Readmission Rate in Patients With Heart Failure

The purpose of this study is to determine whether extra education of patients with chronic heart failure can reduce 6 months readmission rate to hospital.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) has increased in the western world and is a major concern due to increasing prevalence and rising health care costs. The prognosis remains poor despite improvement in survival due to treatment with ACE-inhibitors and beta-receptor antagonists. HF has a high rate of readmission and hospitalisation. Some readmissions are ascribed to patients' lack of compliance, insufficient knowledge about diet, medication and symptoms of heart failure. Education of patients has become an important component in order to increase the patients' self-care and compliance. Intense education and counselling of patients is recommended in both European and American guidelines for HF.

Several systematic reviews of studies on strategies for improvement of outcomes of heart failure patients after discharge have been published, but very little emphasis has been put on methodological issues, e.g. methods of education. In most programs the methods and equipment used for education and information have only consisted of verbal and written material; computer-based tools seem to be relatively new.

Interactive CD-ROM programs for HF patients can increase patients' knowledge about heart failure and its treatment. However, no studies have examined the clinical outcome, e.g. rate of readmission.

Comparison: Extra educated patients (interactive CD-ROM education) compared to standard educated patients on readmission rate or death during 6 months.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

206

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

      • Malmo, Sweden, S-205 02
        • Drug and Therapeutics Committee, Malmoe University Hospital

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

1 second and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Inpatients treated for heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40 % at echocardiography or at least two of the criteria pulmonary rates, peripheral oedema, a third heart sound and signs of heart failure at chest X-ray.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Somatic disease or physical handicap with difficulties to communicate or handle the technical equipment, patients with only little knowledge in Swedish, patients with expected problems with compliance due to alcohol/drug abuse or major psychiatric illness, and participation in a trial.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Educational/Counseling/Training
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Readmission and death rate at 6 months' follow up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Knowledge regarding heart failure and its treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Study Director: Hans Liedholm, MD, PhD, Drug and Therapeutics Committee
  • Study Chair: Agneta Björck Linné, B Pharm, PhD, Drug and Therapeutics Committee

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.

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

February 1, 1998

Study Completion

July 1, 2002

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 3, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

April 5, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 5, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2006

Last Verified

May 1, 2002

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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