Results of the Second Phase of the GER-e-TEC Experiment concerning the Telemonitoring of Elderly Patients Affected by COVID-19 Disease to Detect the Exacerbation of Geriatric Syndromes

Abrar-Ahmad Zulfiqar; Delwende Noaga Damien Massimbo; Mohamed Hajjam; Bernard Geny; Samy Talha; Jawad Hajjam; Sylvie Erve; Amir Hajjam; Emmanuel Andrès

doi:10.3390/jpm11111117

Results of the Second Phase of the GER-e-TEC Experiment concerning the Telemonitoring of Elderly Patients Affected by COVID-19 Disease to Detect the Exacerbation of Geriatric Syndromes

J Pers Med. 2021 Oct 29;11(11):1117. doi: 10.3390/jpm11111117.

Authors

Abrar-Ahmad Zulfiqar¹, Delwende Noaga Damien Massimbo², Mohamed Hajjam², Bernard Geny³, Samy Talha³, Jawad Hajjam⁴, Sylvie Erve⁴, Amir Hajjam⁵, Emmanuel Andrès¹

Affiliations

¹ Service de Médecine Interne, Diabète et Maladies Métaboliques de la Clinique Médicale B, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Equipe EA 3072 "Mitochondrie, Stress Oxydant et Protection Musculaire", Faculté de Médecine, Université de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
² Predimed Technology Society, 67300 Schiltigheim, France.
³ Service de Physiologie et d'Explorations Fonctionnelles, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Equipe EA 3072 "Mitochondrie, Stress Oxydant et Protection Musculaire", Faculté de Médecine, Université de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
⁴ Centre d'Expertise des TIC pour l'Autonomie (CenTich), Mutualité Française Anjou-Mayenne (MFAM)-Angers, 49000 Angers, France.
⁵ Laboratoire IRTES-SeT, Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard (UTBM), Belfort-Montbéliard, 90000 Belfort, France.

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked health and economic damage globally. This pandemic has created a difficult challenge for global public health. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated the use of new technologies and new processes to care for hospitalized patients, including elderly patients. Our team developed a telemonitoring program focused on the prevention of geriatric syndromes, the "GER-e-TEC COVID study".

Methods: This second phase took place during the 3rd wave of the epidemic in France, between 14 December 2020 and 25 February 2021, conducted in the University Hospital of Strasbourg.

Results: 30 elderly patients affected by COVID-19 disease were monitored remotely; the mean age was 85.9 years and a male/female ratio of 1.5 to 1.11 (36.7%) died during the experiment. The patients used the telemedicine solution for an average of 27.3 days. 140,260 measurements were taken while monitoring the geriatric syndromes of the entire patient group. 4675 measurements were recorded per patient for geriatric disorders and risks. 319 measurements were recorded per patient per day. The telemedicine solution emitted a total of 1245 alerts while monitoring the geriatric syndromes of the entire patient group. In terms of sensitivity, the results were 100% for all geriatric risks and extremely satisfactory in terms of positive and negative predictive values. Survival analyses showed that gender played no role in the length of the hospital stay, regardless of the reason for the hospitalization (decompensated heart failure (p = 0.45), deterioration of general condition (p = 0.12), but significant for death (p = 0.028)). The analyses revealed that the length of the hospital stay was not affected by the number of alerts. The results concerning the predictive nature of alerts are satisfactory.

Conclusions: The MyPredi™ telemedicine system allows for the generation of automatic, non-intrusive alerts when the health of a COVID-19 elderly patient deteriorates due to risks associated with geriatric syndromes.

Keywords: COVID-19; MyPredi platform; alerts; geriatric syndromes; telemonitoring.