Text messaging or texting can be used to improve heart health in patients with heart disease, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Motivational text messages are a well-liked, feasible new way to provide additional support to Chinese patients with heart disease, reports a preliminary study by researchers at Yale and in China. However, the study did not prove that these targeted text messages led to an improvement in blood pressure control amongst the recipients, the intended outcome.
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‘Can a text message boost your heart health? Yes, motivational text messages offer add-on benefits to Chinese patients with heart disease.’
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This study is the first of its kind to test a text message intervention aimed at improving heart health in a developing country.
"Text messaging is a promising strategy to reach patients outside of the office," said co-lead author, Erica Spatz, Yale cardiologist and researcher at the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. "Most people have a cell phone, and with patients' permission, text messaging can be used to support specific health goals. We don't have to crunch all of the health care into 20-minute visit slots."
![Mobile Text Messages can Help Control Diabetes]( "Mobile Text Messages can Help Control Diabetes")
Conducting a text message program through mobile phones can help improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes among high risk Latinos.
With input from psychologists and motivational interviewing experts, the researchers developed a bank of text messages that would be culturally relevant for patients with heart disease living across diverse regions of China. Both educational and motivational in content, these near-daily text messages either provided patients with facts about heart disease or encouraged them to adhere to the standard secondary prevention strategies for heart disease, including a healthy diet, regular exercise, and taking prescribed medications.
Although the texts ultimately did not produce the desired health outcome in this initial study -- the effect on participants' blood pressure was modest -- the patients "really liked the text messages," and nearly all indicated that they wanted the messages to continue past the six-month study period, said the researchers.
"Text messaging has the potential to support cardiovascular disease prevention, especially in China - a geographically large, populous country with high rates of heart disease," said Spatz. "But we need to target the text messages to the right patients, and we need to ensure that patients have opportunities to put health messages into action."
Source: Eurekalert
Mobile Text Messages can Help Control Diabetes
Conducting a text message program through mobile phones can help improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes among high risk Latinos.
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With input from psychologists and motivational interviewing experts, the researchers developed a bank of text messages that would be culturally relevant for patients with heart disease living across diverse regions of China. Both educational and motivational in content, these near-daily text messages either provided patients with facts about heart disease or encouraged them to adhere to the standard secondary prevention strategies for heart disease, including a healthy diet, regular exercise, and taking prescribed medications.
Although the texts ultimately did not produce the desired health outcome in this initial study -- the effect on participants' blood pressure was modest -- the patients "really liked the text messages," and nearly all indicated that they wanted the messages to continue past the six-month study period, said the researchers.
"Text messaging has the potential to support cardiovascular disease prevention, especially in China - a geographically large, populous country with high rates of heart disease," said Spatz. "But we need to target the text messages to the right patients, and we need to ensure that patients have opportunities to put health messages into action."
Source: Eurekalert
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