Comparison of data quality and monitoring completion rates between clinic and self-applied ECG patches

BACKGROUND: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, direct-to-patient, self-applied ECG patch use has substantially increased. There are limited data comparing clinic with self-applied electrocardiogram (ECG) patches. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare rates of ECG patch return, percentages of time patches yielded analyzable data (analyzable time), and percentages of prescribed time ECG patches were worn between clinic and self-applied ECG patches before and during COVID-19. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients prescribed an ECG patch during “pre-COVID” (March 1, 2019, through March 1, 2020) and “COVID” (April 4, 2020, through April 1, 2021) years was performed. ECG patch return rates, mean percentages of analyzable time, and mean percentages of prescribed wear time were compared between clinic and self-applied groups. RESULTS: Among the 29,093 ECG patch prescriptions (19% COVID self-applied), the COVID self-applied group had a lower return rate (90.8%) than did both clinic-applied groups (COVID: 97.1%; pre-COVID: 98.1%; P < .001). Among the 28,048 ECG patches (17.5% self-applied) returned for analysis, the COVID self-applied group demonstrated a lower mean percentage of analyzable time (95.9% ± 8.2%) than did both clinic-applied groups (COVID: 96.6% ± 6.6%; pre-COVID 96.6% ± 7.4%; P < .001). There were no differences in the mean percentage of prescribed wear time between groups (pre-COVID clinic-applied: 96.7% ± 34.3%; COVID clinic-applied: 97.4% ± 39.8%; COVID self-applied: 98.1% ± 52.1%; P = .09). CONCLUSION: Self-applied ECG patches were returned at a lower rate and had a statistically lower percentage of analyzable time than clinic-applied patches. However, there were no differences between groups in mean percentages of prescribed wear time, and mean percentages of analyzable time were >95% in all groups.