Facts

Contact person:
Christine Kumlien
Financer:
  • Malmö University – Department of Care Science
  • Skåne University Hospital
  • Malmö nurses' association
  • Swedish association in vascular surgical nursing
Responsible at MaU:
Christine Kumlien
Project members at MaU:
Collaborators :
  • Moncef Zarrouk: Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery - Skåne University Hospital Malmö
  • Cross Technology Solutions - Lund
Time frame:
01 January 2021 - 31 December 2024
Faculty/department:
Research subject:

Project description

A longitudinal cohort study including patients with Intermittent Claudication (IC) is ongoing. The aim is to explore associations between health literacy, illness perceptions, adherence to treatment, self-efficacy and quality of life in patients with IC. All patients receive a questionnaire, measuring the above-mentioned concepts, at the first open clinic visit and after 6 and 12 months. Medical records are reviewed for blood pressure, cholesterol levels and pharmacological treatment. The use of the prescriptions will be registered using the drug registry (National Board of Health and Welfare). Descriptive and analytic statistics will be used.

A randomized controlled pilot trial will be used to test Lifepod PAD as secondary prevention support system. Approximately 60 patients with IC at the Department of vascular diseases at Skåne University hospital will be invited. The intervention group (n=30) will test Lifepod PAD for 3 months and the control group (n=30) will receive secondary prevention as usual. Acceptability, delivery of the intervention, expected sample size and effect size, procedure of randomization and follow-ups will be evaluated. The outcome will be used to design a main randomized trial. Combinations of quantitative measures and qualitative interviews will be used to understand the process in detail.

Approval for the project are provided by the Regional ethical review board (Dnr 2017/609). We want to test Lifepod PAD among persons with IC prior to a substantial intervention involving more patients from all Departments of vascular diseases in Skåne. Consequently, leading to improved health for many inhabitants in Skåne suffering from IC. We know that risk factor reduction leads to less cardiovascular events and hospitalization which in turn will reduce healthcare costs. Further, these devices can preferable be implemented and used both in the primary health care and hospital care.

Our research group, together with the company Cross Technology Solution, has developed a prototype Lifepod PAD based on an earlier version of Lifepod intended for patients suffering from heart attacks.