Therapeutic components of digital counseling for chronic heart failure

Task force statements support the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI) to promote self-care in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Digital counseling interventions have the potential to complement conventional programs. However, therapeutic components of digital programs associated with improved outcomes are not clearly established.

Identify therapeutic components of the Canadian e-Platform to Promote Behavioral Self-Management in Chronic Heart Failure (CHF-CePPORT) protocol that were associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQL).

Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify therapeutic components of the CHF-CePPORT protocol. The primary outcome was the 12-month Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Overall Summary (KCCQ-OS) tertile. Logistic regressions determined the association between 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile, using logon hours for key segments of the protocol, modality of content delivery, and clinical themes.

A total of 117 patients were enrolled in the e-Counseling arm of the CHF-CePPORT trial. Median age was 60 years (IQR 52-69). Total logon hours in the initial 4-month segment of CHF-CePPORT (Sessions 1-16) was associated with increased 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile (Odds Ratio, OR = 1.31, 95% CI, 1.1-1.5, P = 0.001). Within sessions 1-16, improved KCCQ-OS was associated with logon hours for self-assessment tools/trackers (OR = 1.49, 95% CI, 1.1-2.0, P = 0.007), and videos (OR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.03-2.4, P = 0.04), but not for CHF information pages.

This study highlights the importance of using evidence-based guidelines from CBT and MI as core components of digital counseling, delivered through videos and interactive tools/trackers, to improve HRQL with CHF.