Effectiveness of Digital Health Intervention on Community Health Care in Middle-aged and Older Population in Taiwan

Chang Gung Medical Foundation

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hypercholesterolemia and Hyperlipidemia; Health Promotion; Sleep Quality; Hyperuricemia; Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM); Overweight (BMI > 25); Hypertension (HTN)

Treatments: Device: Digital Health Program with Smart Devices

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07238257

202201534B0

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a digital health intervention for community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan. A total of 199 participants from four randomly selected communities will be enrolled in a 6-month cluster randomized trial. Participants in the intervention group will use smart devices to record physiological data, which are automatically uploaded to a cloud-based health management platform. Physicians will review the data monthly and provide personalized consultations and health education. Primary outcomes include anthropometric measures, biochemical indices, electrocardiograms, and self-reported health and sleep quality.

Full description

This 6-month cluster randomized trial is conducted in Guishan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, to examine the impact of a digital health intervention on community health outcomes among adults aged 50 years and older.

From 32 eligible communities, four are randomly selected. Participants must have resided in the community for at least six months, be aged 50 years or older, and provide informed consent. Individuals with severe cognitive impairment, terminal illness, or an inability to use basic digital devices are excluded.

Participants in the intervention group will use smart devices to measure blood pressure, fasting glucose, uric acid, total cholesterol, and electrocardiograms. The data are automatically synchronized with a cloud-based health management platform. Physicians will review data monthly and provide individualized consultations and health education sessions at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.

Primary outcomes include anthropometric indices (BMI, body fat percentage, visceral fat rating, skeletal muscle mass index), biochemical markers (fasting glucose, uric acid, cholesterol), and self-reported health and sleep quality. Secondary outcomes include trends in physiological indicators and associations among cardiometabolic risk factors.

Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (IRB No.: 202201534B0). Written informed consent is obtained from all participants.

Enrollment: 199 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 50+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults aged 50 years and older
• Resided in the community for at least 6 months
• Able and willing to provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Severe cognitive impairment
• Terminal illness
• Inability to operate basic digital devices (e.g., smartphone, health monitoring device)
• Declined to provide informed consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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199 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention Group (Digital Health Program)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this arm used smart devices to measure physiological data, including blood pressure, blood glucose, uric acid, cholesterol, and electrocardiograms. The data were automatically uploaded to a cloud-based health management platform. Physicians reviewed the data monthly and provided personalized consultations and health education during the 6-month intervention period.

Treatment:

Device: Digital Health Program with Smart Devices

Control Group - Usual Care

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this arm received usual community health care and did not use smart devices or the digital health management platform. No additional physician consultations or structured health education sessions were provided beyond the standard community health services.