{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0573986308583465, 'fraction_numerical': 0.04265402843601896, 'mean_word_length': 4.81039755351682, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 1, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Long-term impact of a six-month telemedical care programme on mortality, heart failure readmissions and healthcare costs in patients with chronic heart failure

Aims The TElemonitoring in the MAnagement of Heart Failure (TEMA-HF) 1 long-term follow-up study assessed whether an initial six-month telemonitoring (TM) programme compared with usual care (UC) would result in reduced all-cause mortality, heart failure admissions and healthcare costs in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients at long-term follow-up. Methods Of the 160 patients included in the multi-centre, randomised controlled telemonitoring trial (TEMA-HF 1, time point t0); 142 CHF patients (65% male; age: 76 ± 10 years; EF: 36 ± 15%) were alive and entered the follow-up study (time point: t1) with a final evaluation at 79 months (time point: t2). Both TM and UC group patients received standard heart failure care during the follow-up study (time points: t1 –t2). The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included days lost due to heart failure readmissions and readmission/patient follow-up related healthcare costs. Results Compared with usual care, the initial six-month TM programme had no significant effect on all-cause mortality (hazard ratio: 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.57 to 1.20; p = 0.32). The number of days lost due to heart failure readmissions was significantly lower in the TM group (p = 0.04). Healthcare costs did not differ significantly between the TM (€ 9140 ± 10580) and UC group (€ 12495 ± 22433) (p = 0.87). Discussion An initial six-month telemonitoring programme was not associated with reduced all-cause mortality in CHF patients at long-term follow-up but resulted in a reduction in the number of days lost due to heart failure readmissions. This study is registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT03171038) (URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03171038).