Staša Vodička1, Antonija Poplas Susič2, Erika Zelko3. 1. Healthcare Center Murska Sobota, 9000 Murska Sobota, Slovenia. 2. Healthcare Center Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3. Medical Faculty Department of Family Medicine, University of Maribor, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The Jozef Stefan Institute developed a personal portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor Savvy that works with a smartphone, and this was used in our study. This study aimed to analyze the usefulness of telecardiology at the primary healthcare level using an ECG personal sensor. METHODS: We included 400 patients with a history of suspected rhythm disturbance who visited their family physician at the Healthcare Center Ljubljana and Healthcare Center Murska Sobota from October 2016 to January 2018. RESULTS: The study found that there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control groups in the number of present rhythm disorders and actions taken to treat patients with either observation or administration of a new drug. However, in the test group, there were significantly fewer patients being referred to a cardiologist than in the control group (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The use of an ECG sensor helps family physicians to distinguish between patients who need to be referred to a cardiologist and those who can be treated by them. This method is useful for both physicians and patients because it shortens the time taken to start treatment, can be used during pandemics such as COVID-19, and reduces unnecessary cost.
INTRODUCTION: The Jozef Stefan Institute developed a personal portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor Savvy that works with a smartphone, and this was used in our study. This study aimed to analyze the usefulness of telecardiology at the primary healthcare level using an ECG personal sensor. METHODS: We included 400 patients with a history of suspected rhythm disturbance who visited their family physician at the Healthcare Center Ljubljana and Healthcare Center Murska Sobota from October 2016 to January 2018. RESULTS: The study found that there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control groups in the number of present rhythm disorders and actions taken to treat patients with either observation or administration of a new drug. However, in the test group, there were significantly fewer patients being referred to a cardiologist than in the control group (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The use of an ECG sensor helps family physicians to distinguish between patients who need to be referred to a cardiologist and those who can be treated by them. This method is useful for both physicians and patients because it shortens the time taken to start treatment, can be used during pandemics such as COVID-19, and reduces unnecessary cost.
Entities:
Keywords:
heart rhythm disorders; palpitations; personal mobile ECG sensor; primary healthcare; referrals
Authors: G de Graaf; Daniel Kuratomi Cruz; Jaap C Haartsen; Frank Hooijschuur; Paddy J French Journal: IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst Date: 2019-07-23 Impact factor: 3.833
Authors: Delphine De Smedt; Kornelia Kotseva; Dirk De Bacquer; David Wood; Guy De Backer; Jean Dallongeville; Lehto Seppo; Andrzej Pajak; Zeljko Reiner; Diego Vanuzzo; Borislav Georgiev; Nina Gotcheva; Lieven Annemans Journal: Eur Heart J Date: 2012-07-26 Impact factor: 29.983
Authors: Ekrem Yasa; Fabrizio Ricci; Hannes Holm; Torbjörn Persson; Olle Melander; Richard Sutton; Artur Fedorowski; Viktor Hamrefors Journal: Front Cardiovasc Med Date: 2019-10-25
Authors: Nathan R Hill; Daniel Ayoubkhani; Phil McEwan; Daniel M Sugrue; Usman Farooqui; Steven Lister; Matthew Lumley; Ameet Bakhai; Alexander T Cohen; Mark O'Neill; David Clifton; Jason Gordon Journal: PLoS One Date: 2019-11-01 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Klemen Bregar; Tomaž Krištofelc; Matjaž Depolli; Viktor Avbelj; Aleksandra Rashkovska Journal: Sensors (Basel) Date: 2022-07-06 Impact factor: 3.847