Cardiovascular Risk Calculator of the German Heart Foundation

 

In the interests of preventive and participatory medicine, a digitized prevention program is to be set up in cooperation with the German Hypertension League (DHL) and the German Heart Foundation (DHS), the largest patient organization in Germany. The media presence of DHS ensures optimal visibility and reach for digital cardiovascular prevention among its more than 100,000 members.

The DHS has been operating a highly frequented online risk calculator that allows users to assess their cardiovascular risk. In a cooperation between DigiMed Bayern, DHL and DHS, an APP is to be created as a digital companion for people with manifested heart disease and people who want to monitor their heart health. In addition to information and news on specific diseases, the APP also provides information, tips and practical instructions for a healthy diet, sports and other factors such as stress reduction or recovery management. This is intended to provide personalized support for primary and secondary prevention of heart diseases. The content of the app has been validated by clinical research, and corresponds to the current state of medical research and clinical guidelines. The APP primarily sees itself as an information and communication platform. In addition, the effort is supported by motivating individualized aspects, such as goal setting and success measurement as well as the integration of local self-help groups.

A second aspect of the APP is the ongoing scientific survey of users. A central database allows questions to be sent to all users of the app at regular intervals. The focus is on sustainable, personalized motivation of the participants, which is supported by appropriate psychological interaction modules. These interaction modules aim to improve health-promoting behavior through the targeted provision of information and suggestions. Motivational measures such as personal goal setting, self-monitoring or reinforcement are used to encourage users to make positive behavioral changes. In accordance with data protection regulations, the data is initially only stored on the users' end devices. For a voluntary consent or inclusion in a study, users generally agreeing to this should be addressed without transferring individual data. If you consent to the study, the data will be transmitted pseudonymized or anonymized to a centralized platform. On the basis of the data, users are phenotyped with increasing precision over the long term, and individually over time. On this basis, measures or digital interventions can be implemented more specifically. Moreover, the success of measures already applied (e.g. long-term medication) can be assessed individually. Prevention strategies can be transferred to stratifiable groups of similar users using the APP. Thus, all users of the APP benefit in the long term from the increasing optimization of the overall system, even without participating in scientific evaluations.

The content of the app is initially generated from existing information material from DHS, DHL and Techniker Krankenkasse. This means that an extensive portfolio of high-quality content is available right from the start of the app. To ensure a high level of acceptance and user-friendliness, usability tests are integrated into the development of the APP. The APP should be freely available on the website and in APP stores for every citizen and thus generate significant added value for the health promotion of the population and scientific knowledge.”

https://www.herzstiftung.de/Herzinfarkt-Risiko-Test.php?et_cid=10&et_lid=27084&et_sub=Hif-Risiko-Test_ueber_Startseiten-Link