UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Evaluation of CirrhoCare® - A digital-health solution for home management of patients with cirrhosis

Kazankov, Konstantin; Novelli, Simone; Chatterjee, Devnandan A; Phillips, Alexandra; Balaji, Anu; Raja, Maruthi; Foster, Graham; ... Mookerjee, Rajeshwar P; + view all (2023) Evaluation of CirrhoCare® - A digital-health solution for home management of patients with cirrhosis. Journal of Hepatology , 78 (1) pp. 123-132. 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.08.034. Green open access

[thumbnail of 1-s2.0-S0168827822030665-main.pdf]
Preview
Text
1-s2.0-S0168827822030665-main.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (7MB) | Preview

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cirrhosis patients discharged from hospital following acute decompensation are at high-risk of new complications. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and potential clinical benefits of remote management of acutely decompensated cirrhosis patients using CirrhoCare®. METHODS: Cirrhosis patients with acute decompensation were followed with CirrhoCare® and compared with contemporaneous matched controls, managed with standard follow-up. Commercially available monitoring devices were linked to the smartphone CirrhoCare®-App, for daily recording of heart rate, blood pressure, weight, % body-water, cognitive function [CL-Animal Recognition Test (CL-ART) App], self-reported well-being and, intake of food, fluid and alcohol. The App had 2-way patient-physician communication. Independent external adjudicators assessed appropriateness of CirrhoCare-based decisions. RESULTS: Twenty-cirrhotic patients were recruited to CirrhoCare® (mean age 59±10 years, 14-male, alcoholic cirrhosis (80%), mean MELD-Na score 16.1±4.2) and were not statistically different to twenty contemporaneous controls. Follow up was 10.1±2.4 weeks. Fifteen-patients showed good engagement (≥4 readings/week), 2 moderate (2-3/week), and 3 poor (<2/week). In a usability questionnaire the median score was ≥9 for all questions. Five CirrhoCare®-managed patients had 8-readmissions over median of 5 (IQR 3.5-11) days, and none required hospitalization for >14 days. Sixteen other CirrhoCare-guided patient contacts were made, leading to clinical interventions that prevented further progression. Appropriateness was confirmed by adjudicators. Controls had 13-readmissions in 8-patients, lasting median 7 (IQR 3-15) days with 4-admissions of >14 days. They had 6 unplanned paracenteses compared to 1 in the CirrhoCare® group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates CirrhoCare® is feasible for community management of decompensated cirrhosis patients with good engagement and clinically-relevant alerts to new decompensating events. CirrhoCare® managed patients have fewer and shorter readmissions justifying confirmatory larger controlled clinical trials. LAY SUMMARY: This first study of digital, real-time, home management for multiple complications of advanced cirrhosis, with CirrhoCare®, showed positive patient engagement and feedback in patients with mainly alcohol-related cirrhosis, following a recent hospital discharge. CirrhoCare® allowed early diagnosis of new complications for patients at home, prompting their hepatologists to intervene over >10 weeks follow-up. CirrhoCare® managed patients had fewer and shorter hospital readmissions, as well as less unplanned abdominal fluid drains than in a control group. CirrhoCare® is a promising tool for specialist, community management of cirrhosis patients, at-risk of new cirrhosis complications.

Type: Article
Title: Evaluation of CirrhoCare® - A digital-health solution for home management of patients with cirrhosis
Location: Netherlands
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.08.034
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2022.08.034
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Decompensation, liver disease, remote management
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inst for Liver and Digestive Hlth
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10156060
Downloads since deposit
6Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item