PhD Defence Arno J. Gingele

Keywords: Heart failure, eHealth, risk classification, artificial intelligence
 

"Towards a holistic eHealth product for heart failure management: A road map"

This thesis focuses on developing a new eHealth product to improve self-care in heart failure (HF) patients. The research includes evaluating two existing products, Health Buddy and HF Coach, and developing new tools like the Maastricht Instability Score-Heart Failure (MIS-HF) and the Maastricht Decompensation Questionnaire (MDQ). MIS-HF successfully identified stable HF patients who could be referred to primary care, while MDQ differentiated between decompensated and stable patients. An AI-supported decision engine (DE) for disease-modifying therapy (DMT) was also created, providing appropriate, guideline-based treatment recommendations. The thesis also analysed clinical endpoints in HF trials, noting that commercial trials focus more on hard clinical outcomes, while non-commercial ones highlight patient-reported outcomes. Additionally, a nurse avatar was introduced in the HF Coach, which patients found user-friendly. These features are now being integrated into a new eHealth tool, potentially allowing patients to self-manage their medications in the future.

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