We tested the effect of informational postcards on improving remote monitoring adherence among Veterans with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial.
Objective: To test the effect of informational postcards on remote monitoring adherence among Veterans with pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). Design/Patients: Stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial among Veterans with pacemakers and ICDs. Intervention: In wave 1, Veterans who had sent at least 1 transmission within the past 2 years but had become non-adherent were randomly assigned to receive a postcard or no postcard. Those receiving postcards were randomized to 1 of 2 messages: 1) a "warning" postcard describing risks of non-adherence or 2) an "encouraging" postcard describing benefits of adherence. In wave 2, Veterans who had either not received a postcard in wave 1 or had since become non-adherent were mailed a postcard (again, randomized to 1 of 2 messages). Patients who did not send a remote monitoring transmission within 1 month were mailed a second, identical postcard. Main Measures: Proportion of patients who sent a transmission within 70 days.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
6,351
Participants received a postcard asking them to address non-adherence to remote monitoring.
San Francisco VA Medical Center
San Francisco, California, United States
Remote monitoring transmission
Proportion of patients who sent a transmission within 70 days
Time frame: 70 days
Transmission after first postcard
Proportion of patients who sent a transmission after the first postcard
Time frame: 70 days
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