Assessing the Efficacy of a Virtual Assistant in the Remote Cardiac Rehabilitation of Heart Failure and Ischemic Heart Disease Patients: Case-Control Study of Romanian Adult Patients

Andreea-Elena Lăcraru, Ștefan-Sebastian Busnatu, Maria-Alexandra Pană (), Gabriel Olteanu, Liviu Șerbănoiu, Kai Gand, Hannes Schlieter, Sofoklis Kyriazakos, Octavian Ceban, Cătălina Liliana Andrei and Crina-Julieta Sinescu
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Andreea-Elena Lăcraru: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Ștefan-Sebastian Busnatu: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Maria-Alexandra Pană: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Gabriel Olteanu: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Liviu Șerbănoiu: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Kai Gand: Research Group Digital Health, Faculty of Business and Economics, Technische Universitat Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Hannes Schlieter: Research Group Digital Health, Faculty of Business and Economics, Technische Universitat Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
Sofoklis Kyriazakos: Department of Business Development and Technology, Aarhus University, 7400 Aarhus, Denmark
Octavian Ceban: Economic Cybernetics and Informatics Department, University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania
Cătălina Liliana Andrei: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Crina-Julieta Sinescu: Department of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”, 050474 Bucharest, Romania

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality in Europe, with potentially more than 60 million deaths per year, with an age-standardized rate of morbidity-mortality higher in men than women, exceeding deaths from cancer. Heart attacks and strokes account for more than four out of every five CVD fatalities globally. After a patient overcomes an acute cardiovascular event, they are referred for rehabilitation to help them to restore most of their normal cardiac functions. One effective way to provide this activity regimen is via virtual models or telerehabilitation, where the patient can avail themselves of the rehabilitation services from the comfort of their homes at designated timings. Under the funding of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program, grant no 769807, a virtual rehabilitation assistant has been designed for elderly patients (vCare), with the overall objective of supporting recovery and an active life at home, enhancing patients’ quality of life, lowering disease-specific risk factors, and ensuring better adherence to a home rehabilitation program. In the vCare project, the Carol Davila University of Bucharest (UMFCD) was in charge of the heart failure (HF) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) groups of patients. By creating a digital environment at patients’ homes, the vCare system’s effectiveness, use, and feasibility was evaluated. A total of 30 heart failure patients and 20 ischemic heart disease patients were included in the study. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions and a few technical difficulties, HF and IHD patients who performed cardiac rehabilitation using the vCare system had similar results compared to the ambulatory group, and better results compared to the control group.

Keywords: telerehabilitation; virtual assistants; cardiac rehabilitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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