2020-10-01
SAFE@HOME: Digital health platform facilitating a new care path for women at increased risk of preeclampsia – A case-control study
Publication
Publication
Pregnancy Hypertension , Volume 22 p. 30- 36
Objective: In women at risk of developing preeclampsia, we evaluated the use of a digital health platform for telemonitoring blood pressure and symptoms combined with a minimal antenatal visit schedule. Study design: A case-control study for women with chronic hypertension, history of preeclampsia, or maternal cardiac or kidney disease. A care path was designed with reduced visits enhanced with a digital platform (SAFE@HOME) for daily blood pressure and symptom monitoring starting from 16 weeks of gestation. Homemeasurements were monitored in-hospital by obstetric professionals, taking actions upon alarming results. This prospective SAFE@HOME group was compared to a retrospective control group managed without self-monitoring. Main outcome measures: Primary: healthcare consumption (number of antenatal visits, ultrasounds, admissions and diagnostics), user experiences of the platform. Secondary: maternal and perinatal outcomes. Results: Baseline characteristics of the SAFE@HOME (n = 103) and control group (n = 133) were comparable. In the SAFE@HOME group, antenatal visits (mean 13.7 vs 16.0, p < 0.001) and ultrasounds (6.3 vs 7.4, p = 0.005) were lower compared to the control group. Admissions for hypertension or suspected preeclampsia were significantly fewer in the SAFE@HOME group (2.9% versus 13.5%, p = 0.004). Telemonitoring participants were highly satisfied using the platform. No differences were observed for maternal and perinatal outcomes. Conclusions: Our care path including blood pressure telemonitoring for women at risk of preeclampsia allows fewer antenatal visits, ultrasounds and hypertension-related admissions. We observed no differences in perinatal outcomes. These results suggest that telemonitoring of blood pressure is feasible in a high-risk pregnant population and has the potential to profoundly change antenatal care.
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| doi.org/10.1016/j.preghy.2020.07.006, hdl.handle.net/1765/130888 | |
| Pregnancy Hypertension | |
| Organisation | Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics |
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van den Heuvel, J.F.M., Lely, T., Huisman, J.J., Trappenburg, J.C.A., Franx, A., & Bekker, M. (2020). SAFE@HOME: Digital health platform facilitating a new care path for women at increased risk of preeclampsia – A case-control study. Pregnancy Hypertension, 22, 30–36. doi:10.1016/j.preghy.2020.07.006 |
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