JMIR Cardio

High blood pressure (BP) is linked to unhealthy lifestyles, and its treatment includes medications and exercise therapy. Many previous studies have evaluated the effects of exercise on BP improvement; however, exercise requires securing a location, time, and staff, which can be challenging in clinical settings. The antihypertensive effects of dance exercise for patients with hypertension have already been verified, and it has been found that adherence and dropout rates are better compared to other forms of exercise. If the burden of providing dance instruction is reduced, dance exercise will become a highly useful intervention for hypertension treatment.

Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Identifying individuals who would benefit most from preventative interventions, such as antiplatelet therapy, is critical for personalized stroke prevention. However, traditional methods for estimating treatment effects often focus on the average effect across a population and do not account for individual variations in risk and treatment response.

Computerised clinical decision support systems (CDSS) are increasingly being used in clinical practice to improve healthcare delivery. Mobile applications (apps) are a type of CDSS which are currently on the rise particularly in lifestyle interventions and disease prevention. However, the use of such apps in acute patient care, diagnosis and management has not been studied to a great extent. The Pathway for Acute Coronary Syndrome Assessment (PACSA) are a set of guidelines developed to standardise the management of suspected acute coronary syndrome across emergency departments in New South Wales, Australia. These guidelines, which risk stratify patients and provide an appropriate management plan, are currently available as PDF documents or as physical paper charts. The routine use of these documents and their acceptability among clinicians is uncertain. Presenting the PACSA guidelines on a mobile app in a sequential format, may serve to be a more acceptable alternative to the current paper format.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Cardiac fibrosis impacts the underlying pathophysiology of many cardiovascular diseases by altering structural integrity and impairing electrical conduction. Identifying cardiac fibrosis is essential for the prognosis and management of cardiovascular disease; however, current diagnostic methods face challenges due to invasiveness, cost, and inaccessibility. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are widely available and cost-effective for monitoring cardiac electrical activity. While ECG-based methods for inferring fibrosis exist, they are not commonly used due to accuracy limitations and the need for cardiac expertise. However, the ECG shows promise as a target for machine learning (ML) applications in fibrosis detection.

Emergency medical services attend out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) all across Australia. Resuscitation by emergency medical services is attempted in nearly half of all cases. However, resuscitation skills can degrade over time without adequate exposure, which negatively impacts patient survival. In locations where paramedic exposure to OHCA is low, other avenues for ensuring resuscitation skills are maintained should be put in place. Simulation-based training via resuscitation manikins offers a potential solution for maintaining paramedic clinical practice skills.

Health care is under pressure due to an aging population with an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Smoking and physical inactivity are 2 key preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Yet, as with most health behaviors, they are difficult to change. In the interdisciplinary Perfect Fit project, scientists from different fields join forces to develop an evidence-based virtual coach (VC) that supports smokers in quitting smoking and increasing their physical activity. In this Viewpoint paper, intervention content, design, and implementation, as well as lessons learned, are presented to support other research groups working on similar projects. A total of 6 different approaches were used and combined to support the development of the Perfect Fit VC. The approaches used are (1) literature reviews, (2) empirical studies, (3) collaboration with end users, (4) content and technical development sprints, (5) interdisciplinary collaboration, and (6) iterative proof-of-concept implementation. The Perfect Fit intervention integrates evidence-based behavior change techniques with new techniques focused on identity change, big data science, sensor technology, and personalized real-time coaching. Intervention content of the virtual coaching matches the individual needs of the end users. Lessons learned include ways to optimally implement and tailor interactions with the VC (eg, clearly explain why the user is asked for input and tailor the timing and frequency of the intervention components). Concerning the development process, lessons learned include strategies for effective interdisciplinary collaboration and technical development (eg, finding a good balance between end users’ wishes and legal possibilities). The Perfect Fit development process was collaborative, iterative, and challenging at times. Our experiences and lessons learned can inspire and benefit others. Advanced, evidence-based digital interventions, such as Perfect Fit, can contribute to a healthy society while alleviating health care burden.

Online health communities (OHCs) enable patients to create social ties with people with similar health conditions outside their existing social networks. Harnessing mechanisms of information diffusion in OHCs has attracted attention for its ability to improve illness self-management without the use of healthcare resources.

Beta-2 agonists play an important role in the management of asthma. Inhaled long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABAs) and short-acting beta-2 agonists (SABAs) cause bronchodilation by stimulating adrenoceptors. These receptors are also present in cardiac cells and, as a side effect, could also be stimulated by inhaled beta-2 agonists.

Background: Digital interventions are promising additions to usual care but also in the realm of rehabilitation. Evidence and studies for the latter, however, are still rare.

Despite the exponential growth in telemedicine visits in clinical practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains unknown if telemedicine visits achieved similar adherence to prescribed medications as in-person office visits for patients with heart failure

To prevent the development of cardiovascular diseases, it is a growing priority worldwide to detect a wide range of patients with untreated hypertension and practice adequate blood pressure control with drug therapy. However, few effective tools have been identified that facilitate the initiation of antihypertensive medications in patients with untreated hypertension.

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