Background Mobile health (mHealth), measuring physical data with medical devices at home, is often linked to patient satisfaction and improvements in measurable medical data like blood pressure,...Show moreBackground Mobile health (mHealth), measuring physical data with medical devices at home, is often linked to patient satisfaction and improvements in measurable medical data like blood pressure, but improvements in mental health and usual functioning are often not considered. mHealth programme The Box combines measuring physical parameters with Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) to get a full scope on patients’ health after open heart surgery. The aim of this study was to compare HRQoL between cardiac patients following mHealth programme The Box and patients following standard care at 3 months after discharge. Methods Patients which underwent open heart surgery were assessed before their operation and 3 months after discharge with the EQ5D questionnaire, a five-dimension questionnaire (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression). The five dimensions can be calculated into an index score to compare HRQoL between and within groups, and the last question of the questionnaire provides the Perceived Overall Health (POH) score of a patient which can also be used to assess changes within and between groups. The Box group (n = 53) received mHealth for 3 months and a digital doctor’s visit, and the control group (n = 73) received standard care. Results Both The Box group (p = ,006) and the control group (p = ,005) improved over time in POH score, and The Box group also improved over time in index score (p = ,05). No significant differences in index score or POH score were found between the two groups after 3 months, when controlled for baseline values. However, the study did find a significant difference in The Box group over time for self-care (p = ,04) and usual activities (p = ,03). Conclusion Patients using mHealth do not have higher HRQoL than patients receiving standard care at 3 months, when controlling for baseline. However, self-care and usual activities did improve over time in The Box group. The Box does not perform better than standard care, but patients do improve on HRQoL over time. The improvement over time in combination with the improved accessibility of care, make mHealth a meaningful addition to health care.Show less
