OUTCOMES OF A SMARTPHONE-BASED APPLICATION WITH LIVE HEALTH-COACHING POST-PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION

BackgroundThe interval between inpatient hospitalization for symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and post-discharge office consultation is a vulnerable period for adverse events. MethodsContent was customized on a smartphone app-based platform for hospitalized patients receiving PCI which included education, tracking, reminders and live health coaches. We conducted a single-arm open-label pilot study of the app at two academic medical centers in a single health system, with subjects enrolled 02/2018-05/2019 and 1:3 propensity-matched historical controls from 01/2015-12/2017. To evaluate feasibility and efficacy, we assessed 30-day hospital readmission (primary), outpatient cardiovascular follow-up, and cardiac rehabilitation (CR) enrollment as recorded in the health system. Outcomes were assessed by Cox Proportional Hazards model. Findings118 of 324 eligible (36{middle dot}4%) 21-85 year-old patients who underwent PCI for symptomatic CAD who owned a smartphone or tablet enrolled. Mean age was 62.5 (9{middle dot}7) years, 87 (73{middle dot}7%) were male, 40 of 118 (33{middle dot}9%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus, 68 (57{middle dot}6%) enrolled underwent PCI for MI and 59 (50{middle dot}0%) had previously known CAD; demographics were similar among matched historical controls. No significant difference existed in all-cause readmission within 30 days (8{middle dot}5% app vs 9{middle dot}6% control, ARR -1.1% absolute difference, 95% CI -7{middle dot}1-4{middle dot}8, p=0{middle dot}699) or 90 days (16{middle dot}1% app vs 19{middle dot}5% control, p=0.394). Rates of both 90-day CR enrollment (HR 1{middle dot}99, 95% CI 1{middle dot}30-3{middle dot}06) and 1-month cardiovascular follow up (HR 1{middle dot}83, 95% CI 1{middle dot}43-2{middle dot}34) were greater with the app. Weekly engagement at 30- and 90-days, as measured by percentage of weeks with at least one day of completion of tasks, was mean (SD) 73{middle dot}5% (33{middle dot}9%) and 63{middle dot}5% (40{middle dot}3%). Spearman correlation analyses indicated similar engagement across age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors. InterpretationsA post-PCI smartphone app with live health coaches yielded similarly high engagement across demographics and safely increased attendance in cardiac rehabilitation. Larger prospective randomized controlled trials are necessary to test whether this app improves cardiovascular outcomes following PCI. FundingNational Institutes of Health, Boston Scientific. Clinical Trial RegistrationNCT03416920 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03416920).