Does a Mobile app improve patients' knowledge of stroke risk factors and health-related quality of life in patients with stroke? A randomized controlled trial

Background: Developing a stroke health-education mobile app (SHEMA) and examining its effectiveness on improvement of knowledge of stroke risk factors and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with stroke. Methods: We recruited 76 stroke patients and randomly assigned them to either the SHEMA intervention (n = 38) or usual care where a stroke health-education booklet was provided (n = 38). Knowledge of stroke risk factors and HRQOL were assessed using the stroke-knowledge questionnaire and European Quality of Life-Five Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire, respectively. Results: Sixty-three patients completed a post-test survey (the SHEMA intervention, n = 30; traditional stroke health-education, n = 33). Our trial found that patients' mean knowledge score of stroke risk factors was improved after the SHEMA intervention (Mean difference = 2.83; t = 3.44; p =.002), and patients' knowledge was also improved in the after traditional stroke health-education (Mean difference = 2.79; t = 3.68; p =.001). However, patients after the SHEMA intervention did not have significantly higher changes of the stroke knowledge or HRQOL than those after traditional stroke health-education. Conclusions: Both the SHEMA intervention and traditional stroke health-education can improve patients' knowledge of stroke risk factors, but the SHEMA was not superior to traditional stroke health-education.