title: Effectiveness of telemedicine: videoconferencing for low-income elderly with hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Develop educational materials and a classification system for remote consultations and home-based healthcare through videoconferencing, manage the blood pressure of patients through a ubiquitous-health (u-health) service, and identify its effects on the blood pressure and level of depression of the service recipients (i.e., low-income elderly patients with hypertension).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a nonequivalent control group pre-test-post-test, quasi-experimental study. Low-income essential hypertensive patients above 65 years of age living in public rental housing were our target group. They were divided into two groups: an experimental group of 25 who had received blood pressure monitoring as well as inbound-outbound remote video consultation and a control group of 24 who received blood pressure monitoring through u-health equipment but no other management. In total, 16 sessions were conducted twice a week for 8 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) The hypothesis that there would be a difference in the level of depression between the control group and the experimental group who received the u-health service was rejected because of the lack of a significant statistical difference (t=-0.142, p=0.889). However, there was a significant difference before and after the service in the experimental group (t=2.49, p=0.021). (2) Concerning the second hypothesis-that there would be a difference in systolic and diastolic blood pressure between the control group and the experimental group-there was a statistically significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (F=10.26, p=0.003), but diastolic blood pressure showed no significant difference (F=2.802, p=0.101). Thus, the hypothesis was partially adopted. (3) The third hypothesis stated that the rates of sleep (p=0.012) and hobbies (p=0.036) as aspects of a healthy lifestyle in the experimental group would be significantly higher than those of the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings confirm that the u-health nursing service via videoconferencing made a measurable contribution to a healthier lifestyle by reducing systolic blood pressure levels compared with those who were only monitored for high blood pressure. Therefore, this service is recommended as part of a hypertension management regimen for low-income elderly people as an effective means of nursing intervention.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Seoul National University , Seoul, South Korea .
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jeongeun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D011638:Public Housing; D017216:Telemedicine; D049269:Videoconferencing
keywords: blood pressure; depression; hypertension; low-income elderly; telemedicine; ubiquitous-health nursing