Results Summary

What was the research about?

Heart failure is a long-term health problem that can cause shortness of breath, fatigue, and rapid heartbeat. Patients with heart failure often go to their clinicians, such as doctors or nurses, or the emergency room to manage their symptoms.

In this study, the research team planned to compare two approaches to help older patients with heart failure and their caregivers manage their illness:

  • Mobile health, or mHealth care. Patients received kits to measure their blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and pulse. The kits included a cloud-based clinician portal connected to a tablet paired with Bluetooth. The portal sent daily readings of these measures to a 24-hour call center staffed by registered nurses. The nurses recommended treatment as needed.
  • Enhanced usual care. Patients went to regular doctor visits in person or by phone. Patients could also receive weight scales, blood pressure and pulse monitors, and a paper log for caregivers to record data. Patients and caregivers contacted their clinicians if they had concerns about their results.

What did the research team do?

The research team planned to recruit 400 pairs of older patients with heart failure and their caregivers. But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the study. When the study started, the team was only able to enroll 13 pairs of patients and caregivers. Due to COVID-19, hospitals no longer allowed caregivers to be in patients’ hospital rooms, which made it harder to recruit caregivers. Also, many patients with heart failure were sicker than in the past due to delays in receiving care. The research team decided to end the study in July 2021.

Patients with heart failure, caregivers, and doctors helped plan the study.

What were the results?

PCORI is committed to making full information on all funded research projects publicly available. This summary doesn’t include results or the limits of the study, because the study was not able to be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Final Research Report

This project's final research report is expected to be available by June 2024.

Peer-Review Summary

The Peer-Review Summary for this project will be posted here soon.

Project Information

Judy Weber, PhD, RD
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
$3,570,515
Innovative Care Model for Older Adults with Chronic Heart Failure (I-Coach): A Comparative Effectiveness Clinical Trial

Key Dates

August 2019
June 2023
2019
2023

Study Registration Information

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Has Results
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Health Conditions Health Conditions These are the broad terms we use to categorize our funded research studies; specific diseases or conditions are included within the appropriate larger category. Note: not all of our funded projects focus on a single disease or condition; some touch on multiple diseases or conditions, research methods, or broader health system interventions. Such projects won’t be listed by a primary disease/condition and so won’t appear if you use this filter tool to find them. View Glossary
Populations Populations PCORI is interested in research that seeks to better understand how different clinical and health system options work for different people. These populations are frequently studied in our portfolio or identified as being of interest by our stakeholders. View Glossary
Intervention Strategy Intervention Strategies PCORI funds comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies that compare two or more options or approaches to health care, or that compare different ways of delivering or receiving care. View Glossary
State State The state where the project originates, or where the primary institution or organization is located. View Glossary
Last updated: September 26, 2023