title: Health-Related Quality of Life in Heart Failure Patients With Varying Levels of Health Literacy Receiving Telemedicine and Standardized Education.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of telemonitoring plus education by home healthcare nurses on health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure who had varying health literacy levels. In this pretest/posttest treatment only study, 35 patients with a diagnosis of heart failure received home healthcare nurse visits, including education and telemonitoring. Heart failure education was provided by nurses at each home healthcare visit for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. All participants completed the Short-Form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) during the first week of home healthcare services. The MLHFQ was administered again at the completion of the covered home healthcare services period (1-3 visits per week for 10 weeks). Most participants were older adults (mean age 70.91±12.47) and had adequate health literacy (51.4%). Almost half of the participants were NYHA Class III (47.1%). All participants received individual heart failure education, but this did not result in statistically significant improvements in health-related quality-of-life scores. With telemonitoring and home healthcare nurse visits, quality-of-life scores improved by the conclusion of home healthcare services (clinically significant), but the change was not statistically significant. Individuals with marginal and inadequate health literacy ability were able to correctly use the telemonitoring devices.
authors.affiliation: Karen S. Yehle, PhD, MS, RN, FAHA, is an Associate Professor, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University School of Nursing, and Faculty Associate, Center on Aging and the Life Course, and Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, West Lafayette, Indiana. Kimberly S. Plake, PhD, RPh, is an Associate Professor, Purdue University College of Pharmacy, and Faculty Associate, Center on Aging and the Life Course, and Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, West Lafayette, Indiana. Patricia Nguyen, MBA, MHA, is a Senior Consultant, Navigant Consulting, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. Diane Smith, MSN, APRN, AGNP-C, CHFN, is a Clinical Manager, Community Home Health, Fishers, Indiana.
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Yehle
authors.forename: Kimberly S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Plake
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D065187:Controlled Before-After Studies; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000451:nursing / Q000628:therapy*; D064650:Home Health Nursing / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*