Mobile Health Intervention Effect on Health-Related Quality of life among Cardiac Syndrome X Patients

Cardiac syndrome X(CSX) is a heart condition associated with Microvessel dysfunction, causing angina with severe chest pain. The CSX often severely impairs the quality of life and imposes a considerable additional cost burden on the health care system.

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) intervention on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among CSX patients.

This randomized control trial (RCT) study was conducted at the Clinic of Tehran Heart Centre from March to August 2019. A total of 100 CSX outpatients were selected by randomized sampling and assigned to the intervention (n=50) and control groups (n=50). This study was focused on the effectiveness of the mHealth intervention in HRQoL. The pre-test and post-test were conducted via questionnaires.

Repeated measure MANOVA test for both groups across time pointed to a significant difference between the two groups in HRLQoL subscales at a 0.05 level of significance (F (3,95) = 7.358; P<0.001; Wilk's Λ = 0.811, η2= 0.189). The result indicated the positive effect of the intervention on HRQoL for CSX patients. Bonferroni test also revealed that the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly in three subscales of the questionnaire in the pre-test (P>0.05); nonetheless, they were significantly different in the post-test (P<0.05).

The HRQoL is considered an essential outcome measure in cardiac diseases, especially CSX, which is associated with impaired HRQoL. As evidenced by the results of the current study, the mHealth program, as a low-cost intervention, can promote the HRQoL among these patients.