Abstract
BACKGROUND: To determine the effect of continuous care based on mobile application on patients' quality of life and self-care ability after mechanical heart valve replacement. METHODS: Ninety patients who underwent cardiac mechanical valve replacement in the cardiovascular surgery department of a tertiary general hospital in Guizhou Province from September 2020 to January 2022 were selected for the study. The subjects were randomly divided into a control group and an intervention group using the SPSS25.0 software, with 45 patients in the two groups. The control group received routine nursing care during hospitalization, health education the day before discharge, and regular telephone and outpatient follow-up 6 months after discharge. Based on the control group's care, the intervention group received Mobile APP continuous care for 6 months. The effectiveness of patient's quality of life, medication adherence, international normalized ratio (INR) value compliance rates and self-care ability following mechanical heart valve replacement were evaluated the day before discharge and at the 1, 3 and 6 months after discharge. RESULTS: Scores of quality of life, warfarin medication adherence, and self-care ability rose considerably in the intervention group compared to the control group, and the differences were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The mobile phone application (APP) 's continuity of care could improve patients' quality of life, medication adherence, INR value compliance rates, and self-care ability. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: No: ChiCTR2400081250. Registered 27 February, 2024, https://www.chictr.org.cn.