Conclusion : Despite a systematic bias towards recruitment of individuals younger than the epidemiological average into the r and omized controlled trials , older people with heart failure did benefit from structured telephone support and telemonitoring .
While further research is required to confirm these observational findings , the evidence at h and indicates that discrimination by age alone may be not be appropriate when inviting participation in a remote monitoring service for heart failure
Background : There are few data regarding the effectiveness of remote monitoring for older people with heart failure .
We conducted a post-hoc sub- analysis of a previously published large Cochrane systematic review and meta- analysis of relevant r and omized controlled trials to determine whether structured telephone support and telemonitoring were effective in this population .
[Impact of telemetric management on overall treatment costs and mortality rate among patients with chronic heart failure].
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The rising prevalence of chronic heart failure ( CHF ) has led to an increase in total treatment expenditures . A medical care programme of telemetry was developed to reduce the number of patients with decompensated CHF , hospital admissions and overall treatment cost . PATIENTS AND METHODS As part of a prospect i ve controlled study the body weight of 251 patients with CHF was monitored over one year . The supervising center contacted the patients whenever their body weight exceeded a threshold value . Patients were phoned by a design ated personal adviser and received regular informative material and advice by specialist medical personnel . Patients ' general practitioners had been involved in recruiting patients and by regularly sending them follow-up reports . Another group of 251 patients who had not received the described telemetric intervention served as control . RESULTS The mean age of the patients was 71.7 years , lower than the 76.4 years of the control group . More patients in the intervention groups were in NYHA class III and IV than in the control group ( 52 % vs 36 % ) . After an average observation period of 12 months the duration of hospital stay had been reduced by 48 % ( p = 0.01 ) , the hospital costs by EUR 7128 per patient p = 0.01 ) , while drug expenditure had increased by EUR 245 per patient ( not significant ) . The total costs had thus fallen by EUR 6993 per patient ( -39.5 % ; p = 0.05 ) . The mortality rate of 14.7 % in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group of 27.1 % ( p = 0.001 ) . The reduction in costs and mortality rate was clearly greater for men than women . Total expenditure had been highest for patients who had died . CONCLUSION The results indicate that total treatment costs and mortality rate can be reduced by telemetric monitoring of  patients in CHF , especially in men
Conclusion : Despite a systematic bias towards recruitment of individuals younger than the epidemiological average into the r and omized controlled trials , older people with heart failure did benefit from structured telephone support and telemonitoring .
While further research is required to confirm these observational findings , the evidence at h and indicates that discrimination by age alone may be not be appropriate when inviting participation in a remote monitoring service for heart failure
Background : There are few data regarding the effectiveness of remote monitoring for older people with heart failure .
We conducted a post-hoc sub- analysis of a previously published large Cochrane systematic review and meta- analysis of relevant r and omized controlled trials to determine whether structured telephone support and telemonitoring were effective in this population .