LAUSR

Introduction: Over 60% of heart failure (HF) patients have reported problems with sexual satisfaction, which is a major reason for medication non-adherence. While many patients are reticent to verbally self-report impaired sexual satisfaction, mobile health (mHealth) technology may improve patient comfort in reporting these symptoms. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of HF patients using mHealth to self-report sexual satisfaction by comparing responders to non-responders and evaluating symptom burden. Methods: We prospectively recruited HF patients from inpatient and outpatient cardiology clinics at an urban academic medical center from October 2016 to January 2017. Patients completed Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS ® ) questionnaires via an mHealth application, mi.Symptoms . The specific outcomes of interest were fatigue- and pain-related impairment of sexual satisfaction, due to the prevalence of those symptoms in HF. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests to evaluate differences between responders and non-responders. Results: The mean age of participants (n=168) was 59 years (±12.5); 37% were female; 37% were Latino; 32% were Black, 32% White, and 36% Other Race . Few significant differences in demographic characteristics of responders and non-responders were noted ( Table ). Of the 117 participants (69.6%) who responded regarding fatigue, 59 (50.4%) indicated that fatigue affected sexual satisfaction “quite a bit” or “very much.” Of the 114 participants (67.9%) who responded regarding pain, 44 (38.6%) indicated that pain affected sexual satisfaction “quite a bit” or “very much.” Conclusion: This study showed that mHealth can be a feasible way to collect sexual satisfaction data with fairly high response rates and few differences between responders and non-responders. Participants’ reported high burden of impairment underscores the importance of measuring this symptom.