Technology-enhanced home-based pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD in the community: a feasibility study.
01 May 2022
Aim: Pulmonary rehabilitation has become a key aspect of the care and treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Rehabilitation programs are normally based in hospitals or centrally located clinical facilities, potentially inaccessible to many COPD sufferers due to the severity of the illness or remote location. With improvements in technology and internet infrastructure, home-based rehabilitation programs delivered online are promising alternatives. This study aims to examine the feasibility of delivering simultaneous face to face and home-based exercise rehabilitation for patients with COPD in primary care.Method: After pre-analysis of health status, 16 patients with COPD from the West of Ireland were enrolled into the study (12 face to face in a local primary care centre and 4 at home) and received 8-week intensive exercise rehabilitation delivered by an experienced physiotherapist. Feasibility was measured by primarily examining the recruitment and retention of participants, secondarily by analysing whether the programme is efficacious or not, and thirdly by questioning whether the programme is acceptable to participants. Validated questionnaires were used to measure health-related quality of life among participants. Free text boxes allowed participants to discuss the programme’s merits. Results: Twelve participants who completed the programme reported being comfortable discussing self-care on video conferencing and satisfied with the technology associated privacy. All participants (n=12) were satisfied with technology expectations, while 83.3% (n= 10) found video consultation as good as face to face consultation. For eight participants self-reported quality of life measures through EQ-5D-3L and health status measures with EQ-VAS were positive. The overall experience of the participants was rated as excellent.Conclusion: It is feasible and acceptable to deliver simultaneous face to face and remote exercise rehabilitation for COPD management in primary care. Well-designed randomised controlled trials are needed to measure outcomes, durability of effect, and cost-effectiveness. Implementation Science/Service Development Research Ideas on Respiratory Conditions and Tobacco Dependency Abstract Declaration of Interest EU Northern Periphery Programme through the Implementing Transnational Telemedicine Solutions (ITTS) project (Reference Number 7.13) References and Clinical Trial Registry Information
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Abstract Conference
Dublin 2021