The Effectiveness of the Smartphone-Based WeChat Platform on Reducing Time to Diagnosis and Treatment of ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

¹ Department of Cardiology, Bin Hai Wan Central Hospital of Dongguan (also called The Fifth People's Hospital of Dongguan, Taiping People's Hospital of Dongguan), 523905 Dongguan, Guangdong, China

² Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Bin Hai Wan Central Hospital of Dongguan (also called The Fifth People's Hospital of Dongguan, Taiping People's Hospital of Dongguan), 523905 Dongguan, Guangdong, China

³ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 200123 Shanghai, China

^*Correspondence: gykang2008@126.com (GuanYang Kang)
^†These authors contributed equally.

Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2023, 24(12), 374; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2412374

Submitted: 14 August 2023 | Revised: 7 October 2023 | Accepted: 20 October 2023 | Published: 29 December 2023

This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Abstract

Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of the smartphone-based WeChat platform in reducing the ischemia time of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Methods: A total of 198 STEMI patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from January 2022 to August 2022 in our hospital were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether their electrocardiograms (ECGs) were posted on the WeChat platform. The two groups were compared for the following: diagnosis time of first ECG, time from first medical contact (FMC) to catheterization laboratory (CL) activity, bypass emergency department (ED) or critical care unit (CCU), time of door to wire, time of door to balloon, time of FMC to wire, heart failure during hospitalization, cardiogenic shock during hospitalization, malignant arrhythmia during hospitalization, death during hospitalization, total hospital cost, and length of stay. Results: The diagnosis time for the first ECG was 10.05 $\pm{}$ 3.30 mins in the control group and 2.50 $\pm{}$ 0.82 mins in the WeChat group (p $<$ 0.05). The time from FMC to CL activity was significantly shorter in the WeChat group compared to the control group (p $<$ 0.05). None of the control group patients bypassed the ED, compared to 80 (80%) of patients in the WeChat group (p $<$ 0.05). The time from door to wire was 60.22 $\pm{}$ 12.73 mins in the WeChat group and 92.56 $\pm{}$ 20.23 mins in the control group (p $<$ 0.05). The time of FMC to wire was also significantly shorter in the WeChat group than in the control group (p $<$ 0.05). The WeChat group had a significantly lower rate of heart failure during hospitalization than the control group (p $<$ 0.05). However, the two groups showed no significant differences for cardiogenic shock during hospitalization, malignant arrhythmia during hospitalization, death during hospitalization, total hospital cost, and length of stay. Conclusions: The smartphone-based WeChat platform demonstrated high efficacy and accessibility in reducing the ischemia time for STEMI patients. Our results indicate that social media platforms such as WeChat could be a useful approach for improving the prognosis of cardiovascular disease.

Keywords

myocardial infarction

telemedicine

WeChat platform

mobile health

social media

Funding

202050715025734/Social Science and Technology Development General Projects of Science and Technology Bureau of Dongguan

2020006/Hospital Research Projects of the Bin Hai Wan Central Hospital of Dongguan

Figures

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Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. Print ISSN 1530-6550 Electronic ISSN 2153-8174