Effectiveness of the European Society of Cardiology/Heart Failure Association website 'heartfailurematters.org' and an e-health adjusted care pathway in patients with stable heart failure: results of the 'e-Vita HF' randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Efficient incorporation of e-health in patients with heart failure (HF) may enhance health care efficiency and patient empowerment. We aimed to assess the effect on self-care of (i) the European Society of Cardiology/Heart Failure Association website 'heartfailurematters.org' on top of usual care, and (ii) an e-health adjusted care pathway leaving out 'in person' routine HF nurse consultations in stable HF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a three-group parallel-randomized trial in stable HF patients from nine Dutch outpatient clinics, we compared two interventions ( heartfailurematters.org website and an e-health adjusted care pathway) to usual care. The primary outcome was self-care measured with the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale. Secondary outcomes were health status, mortality, and hospitalizations. In total, 450 patients were included. The mean age was 66.8 ± 11.0 years, 74.2% were male, and 78.8% classified themselves as New York Heart Association I or II at baseline. After 3 months of follow-up, the mean score on the self-care scale was significantly higher in the groups using the website and the adjusted care pathway compared to usual care (73.5 vs. 70.8, 95% confidence interval 0.6-6.2; and 78.2 vs. 70.8, 95% confidence interval 3.8- 9.4, respectively). The effect attenuated, until no differences after 1 year between the groups. Quality of life showed a similar pattern. Other secondary outcomes did not clearly differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both the heartfailurematters.org website and an e-health adjusted care pathway improved self-care in HF patients on the short term, but not on the long term. Continuous updating of e-health facilities could be helpful to sustain effects. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01755988.

Interpretability of the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale.

OBJECTIVE: The European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale (EHFScBs) is a valid patient-reported questionnaire to measure self-care behavior of heart failure (HF) patients. We assessed the interpretability of the EHFScBs. METHODS: We used data of 1,023 HF patients. Interpretability refers to the clinical meaning of the score and its changes over time. We operationalized interpretability by evaluating distributions of EHFScBs scores across relevant HF subgroups by eyeballing, by testing the risk on hospitalizations and mortality of a plausible threshold, and by determining a clinically relevant minimal important change (MIC). The scale score ranged from 0 to 100, with a higher score meaning better self-care. A threshold of ≥70 was defined as adequate and <70 as inadequate self-care. RESULTS: The EHFScBs scores were similarly normally distributed among the subgroups with a mean between 57.8 (SD 19.4) and 72.0 (SD 18.0). The 464 HF patients with adequate self-care had significantly less all-cause hospitalizations than the 559 patients with inadequate self-care. CONCLUSION: The degree of self-care showed to be independent of relevant HF subgroups. A single threshold of 70 accurately discriminated between patients with adequate and inadequate self-care. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The threshold of 70 can be used in designing studies and informing health policy makers.

'heartfailurematters.org', an educational website for patients and carers from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology: objectives, use and future directions.

AIMS: In 2007, the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) launched the information website heartfailurematters.org (HFM site) with the aim of creating a practical tool through which to provide advice and guidelines for living with heart failure to patients, their carers, health care professionals and the general public worldwide. The website is managed by the ESC at the European Heart House and is currently available in nine languages. The aim of this study is to describe the background, objectives, use, lessons learned and future directions of the HFM site. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data on the number of visitor sessions on the site as measured by Google Analytics were used to explore use of the HFM site from 2010 to 2015. Worldwide, the annual number of sessions increased from 416 345 in 2010 to 1 636 368 in 2015. Most users (72-75%) found the site by using a search engine. Desktops and, more recently, smartphones were used to visit the website, accounting for 50% and 38%, respectively, of visits to the site in 2015. CONCLUSIONS: Although its use has increased, the HFM site has not yet reached its full potential: fewer than 2 million users have visited the website, whereas the number of people living with heart failure worldwide is estimated to be 23 million. Uptake and use could be further improved by a continuous process of qualitative assessment of users' preferences, and the provision of professional helpdesk facilities, comprehensive information technology, and promotional support.

Epidemiology of heart failure: the prevalence of heart failure and ventricular dysfunction in older adults over time. A systematic review.

The 'epidemic' of heart failure seems to be changing, but precise prevalence estimates of heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) in older adults, based on adequate echocardiographic assessment, are scarce. Systematic reviews including recent studies on the prevalence of heart failure and LVD are lacking. We aimed to assess the trends in the prevalence of LVD, and heart failure with reduced (HFrEF) and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in the older population at large. A systematic electronic search of the databases Medline and Embase was performed. Studies that reported prevalence estimates in community-dwelling people ≥60 years old were included if echocardiography was used to establish the diagnosis. In total, 28 articles from 25 different study populations were included. The median prevalence of systolic and 'isolated' diastolic LVD was 5.5% (range 3.3-9.2%) and 36.0% (range 15.8-52.8%), respectively. A peak in systolic dysfunction prevalence seems to have occurred between 1995 and 2000. 'All type' heart failure had a median prevalence rate of 11.8% (range 4.7-13.3%), with fairly stable rates in the last decade and with HFpEF being more common than HFrEF [median prevalence 4.9% (range 3.8-7.4%) and 3.3% (range 2.4-5.8%), respectively]. Both LVD and heart failure remain common in the older population at large. The prevalence of diastolic dysfunction is on the rise and currently higher than that of systolic dysfunction. The prevalence of the latter seems to have decreased in the 21st century.

Effectiveness of an interactive platform, and the ESC/HFA heartfailurematters.org website in patients with heart failure: design of the multicentre randomized e-Vita heart failure trial.

AIMS: Electronic health support (e-health) may improve self-care of patients with heart failure (HF). We aim to assess whether an adjusted care pathway with replacement of routine consultations by e-health improves self-care as compared with usual care. In addition, we will determine whether the ESC/HFA (European Society of Cardiology/Heart Failure Association) website heartfailurematters.org (HFM website) improves self-care when added to usual care. Finally, we aim to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. METHODS: A three-arm parallel randomized trial will be conducted. Arm 1 consists of usual care; arm 2 consists of usual care plus the HFM website; and arm 3 is the adjusted care pathway with an interactive platform for disease management (e-Vita platform), with a link to the HFM website, which replaces routine consultations with HF nurses at the outpatient clinic. In total, 414 patients managed in 10 Dutch HF outpatient clinics or in general practice will be included and followed for 12 months. Participants are included if they have had an established diagnosis of HF for at least 3 months. The primary outcome is self-care as measured by the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour scale (EHFScB scale). Secondary outcomes are quality of life, cardiovascular- and HF-related mortality, hospitalization, and its duration as captured by hospital and general practitioner registries, use of and user satisfaction with the HFM website, and cost-effectiveness. PERSPECTIVE: This study will provide important prospective data on the impact and cost-effectiveness of an interactive platform for disease management and the HFM website. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: unique identifier: NCT01755988.

Time trends in educational differences in lung and upper aero digestive tract cancer mortality in France between 1990 and 2007.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the magnitude of educational differences in lung and upper aero digestive tract (UADT) cancer mortality in France from 1990 to 2007. METHODS: The analyses were based on census data from a representative sample of the French population. Educational level was used as the indicator for socioeconomic status. Educational differences in mortality from lung and UADT cancer were calculated among people aged 30-74 and by birth cohort. Two periods were compared: 1990-1998 and 1999-2007. Mortality rates, hazard ratios and relative indices of inequality (RII) were computed. RESULTS: We found higher lung and UADT cancer mortality among those with less education. Inequalities in male UADT cancer mortality remained stable over time (RII(1990-1998)=0.21 (95% confidence interval 0.15-0.29); RII(1999-2007)=0.17 (0.11-0.26)) whereas inequalities in lung cancer mortality increased among the younger men (RII(1990-1998)=0.48 (0.28-0.83); RII(1999-2007)=0.16 (0.09-0.31)). Among women, inequalities in lung cancer mortality became apparent during the second period with higher mortality among those with less education. This trend was exclusively driven by the younger women, among whom inequalities reached about the same magnitude as among younger men (RII(1999-2007)=0.21 (0.08-0.56)). CONCLUSION: UADT cancer mortality rates strongly decreased over time for every educational level. This implies that the burden of health associated with socioeconomic inequalities in UADT cancer mortality decreased substantially. Inequalities in lung cancer mortality are increasing among the younger generation and are expected to increase even more. Differences in magnitude of inequalities among men and women may disappear in the coming decades.