Preliminary results of Reaction Registry

Remote Monitoring (RM) systems have been introduced in the early 2000s to remotely follow patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Initially data transmissions from CIEDs to physicians were performed via radiofrequency transmitters connected to CIEDs. Nowadays Bluetooth technology and smartphone applications allow to connect CIEDs with patients’ mobile avoiding an additional transmitter, and transmitting device diagnostic data to physicians in a timely manner, when relevant arrhythmic or clinical events occur.

To assess patient compliance and acceptance in using Bluetooth technology and smartphone applications for CIED RM.

The REACTION REGISTRY is a no-profit, International, multicenter, prospective observational conducted in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Data on connectivity were collected to assess the feasibility and effectiveness while the REMASQ questionnaire was used to assess the patient acceptance. The REMASQ questionnaire is composed by 12 questions aimed at investigating five aspects linked to the acceptance and satisfaction of remote monitoring: (i) relationship with one's hospital, (ii) ease of use of the technology, (iii) related psychological aspects, (iv) health implications and (v) overall satisfaction. Each response is scored on a five-point scale: from 0 to 4. The maximum score achievable in the questionnaire is 48.

From September 2021 21 Cardiology Departments have included 228 patients. The demographic characteristics are shown in table 1. 185 patients (81,14%) were able to connect the device implanted with the RM system by themselves. In the remaining 43 patients, RM connection was facilitated by hospital staff, caregivers or device manufacturer technical support teams [Table 2]. Furthermore, 196 patients (85,96%) were able to perform device data transmissions.

66 REMASQ questionnaires were collected at 6 months follow-up. The mean scores for each of the five areas of the REMASQ were: 3.5±0.9 for the relationship with the hospital, 3.2±1.1 for ease of use, 2.4±1.7 for psychological aspects , 3.6±0.8 for clinical implications and 3.6±0.7 for the general satisfaction. The average score on the questionnaire was 38±8. Considering responses with a value ≥ 2 as positive, the total satisfaction with the remote control system was 98.51%.

The preliminary results of our real-world registry show a satisfactory use and compliance of the RM through Bluetooth technology and a good acceptance of this method.

Demographic Characteristics