ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine among young patients with congenital heart malformation (CHM) the concordance between a cardiologist's definition of the severity of malformation and recommendations regarding physical activity and the patients' perceptions of their condition. Subjects included male (n = 55) and female (n = 45) adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years who have trivial (38%), mild (21%), or moderate (41%) CHM. Thirty-one percent of the patients rated their CHM as less severe whereas 15% rated their CHM as more severe than the cardiologist's definition. Although most patients engaged in physical activity appropriate for their condition, a noteworthy percentage engaged in activities more intense than those recommended by the patient's personal cardiologist.
Subject(s)
Exercise , Heart Defects, Congenital , Self Care , Self-Assessment , Adolescent , Child , Energy Metabolism , Female , Heart Defects, Congenital/prevention & control , Humans , Male , Self Care/psychology , Severity of Illness IndexSubject(s)
Cardiology , Telemedicine , Electrocardiography, Ambulatory , Heart Diseases/diagnosis , Home Care Services , Humans , Self CareABSTRACT
Healthcare delivery is undergoing major changes in order to reduce spiraling costs without sacrificing the quality of care. Patients and consumers are at the center of these changes. Telemedicine is growing rapidly. It offers many advantages to different healthcare players, yet still faces many entry barriers. Medical technology companies developing telemedicine products have to consider the market needs, the customer, the product development aspect, the business model, and the long process of market penetration, in order to choose the commercially correct idea and successfully bring it to the market.
