title: Mobile Phone Intervention for Heart Failure in a Minority Urban County Hospital Population: Usability and Patient Perspectives.
abstract: Chronic heart failure (HF) is a complex and costly disease. Daily weight and symptom monitoring is the cornerstone of HF management. Little information exists about feasibility of a mobile monitoring intervention among minority patients with HF.
  
  
  
  We developed and tested usability of a mobile-monitoring system in minority patients with HF in a 2:1 randomized controlled trial. We tracked usage and obtained feedback on usability and the system overall at 1, 2, and 3 months.
  
  
  
  Forty-two participants aged 53.0 ± 9.4 years (mean ± standard deviation) were randomized to the mobile-monitoring intervention group. They included the following: 67% males, 76% White Hispanics, 21% African Americans, and 52% with high school education or less. Over the 3-month intervention period, 26 (62%) participants used the system over 50% of the time. Overall, on a 1.0-7.0 scale for both, program satisfaction scores were excellent (mean 6.84 ± 0.46), and the usability ratings were all above 6.0. Comparing 1- to 3-month responses, there was a substantial increase in the percentage of participants who felt the system was easy to use after they had gotten used to it (84% vs. 94%) and that navigating the system was not complicated (78% vs. 84%). Almost all participants said that the program made them feel more secure about their health and that they would stay enrolled in a program like this. None of them had used a similar system before.
  
  
  
  A mobile phone-based disease management program is feasible in a minority county hospital population and offers a modality to help reduce ethnic disparity.
authors.affiliation: 1 Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Miami, Florida.|2 Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; Miami, Florida.|3 Department of Medicine, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Stuti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: 1 Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Miami, Florida.|2 Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Chandana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karanam
authors.affiliation: 4 South Florida Veterans Affairs Foundation for Research and Education, Inc., Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez-Orozco
authors.affiliation: 2 Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System; Miami, Florida.|5 Division of Biostatistics, Departments of Public Health Sciences, Medicine, and Pediatrics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gómez-Marín
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040421:Cell Phone; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006766:Hospitals, County / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017216:Telemedicine; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: heart failure; minority; self-efficacy; self-management; telemedicine; usability