Effectiveness of Electronic Health Care and Drug Monitoring Program to Prevent COVID-19 and Adherence to Therapeutic Regimen in Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease- A Pilot Study

Background and Aim: One of the high-risk groups due to the prevalence of COVID-19 are patients with chronic heart disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the electronic health care and drug monitoring program to prevent COVID-19 and adherence to therapeutic regimen of patients with chronic heart disease (ischemic heart disease). Methods: This pilot study is a quasi-experimental study with control group. 10 patients with ischemic heart disease were randomly assigned to two groups of 5 individuals (intervention and control). Data collected using demographic questionnaire, Beigi's treatment follow-up questionnaire (2012), and a researcher-made questionnaire for prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Data analyzed with SPSS-22 software. Results: Patients in both groups were matched in age, sex, and BMI (p>0.05). The adherence to the medication regimen and adherence to diet and physical activity, and adherence to the preventive issues of Covid-19 during 10 training sessions, showed a significant increase in the intervention group (p<0.005). Conclusion: Electronic services and the use of e-visit in primary health care and adherence to home care regimen, using the mobile phones and the Internet, can enable accurate monitoring of patients' status and help patients at risk to avoid COVID-19.