Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Mar 31:6:23797.
doi: 10.1038/srep23797.

Effectiveness of Telemonitoring in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Taiwan-A Randomized Controlled Trial

Te-Wei Ho  1 , Chun-Ta Huang  2   3   4 , Herng-Chia Chiu  5   6 , Sheng-Yuan Ruan  2 , Yi-Ju Tsai  7 , Chong-Jen Yu  2 , Feipei Lai  1   8   9 ; HINT Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effectiveness of Telemonitoring in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Taiwan-A Randomized Controlled Trial

Te-Wei Ho et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and poses a substantial economic and social burden. Telemonitoring has been proposed as a solution to this growing problem, but its impact on patient outcome is equivocal. This randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate effectiveness of telemonitoring in improving COPD patient outcome. In total, 106 subjects were randomly assigned to the telemonitoring (n = 53) or usual care (n = 53) group. During the two months following discharge, telemonitoring group patients had to report their symptoms daily using an electronic diary. The primary outcome measure was time to first re-admission for COPD exacerbation within six months of discharge. During the follow-up period, time to first re-admission for COPD exacerbation was significantly increased in the telemonitoring group than in the usual care group (p = 0.026). Telemonitoring was also associated with a reduced number of all-cause re-admissions (0.23 vs. 0.68/patient; p = 0.002) and emergency room visits (0.36 vs. 0.91/patient; p = 0.006). In conclusion, telemonitoring intervention was associated with improved outcomes among COPD patients admitted for exacerbation in a country characterized by a small territory and high accessibility to medical services. The findings are encouraging and add further support to implementation of telemonitoring as part of COPD care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier curves showing the probability of readmission with COPD exacerbation.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Kaplan-Meier curves showing the probability of emergency room visit with COPD exacerbation.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (2010). Available at: http://www.goldcopd.org/uploads/users/files/GOLDReport_April112011.pdf (Accessed: 10th November 2015).
    1. Department of Health, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (TAIWAN), 2010 statistics of causes of death (Chinese version) (2010). Available at: http://www.doh.gov.tw/CHT2006/DM/DM2_2.aspx?now_fod_list_no=11897&class_... (Accessed 26th June 2011).
    1. Bourbeau J. et al. Reduction of hospital utilization in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a disease-specific self-management intervention. Arch. Intern. Med. 163, 585–591 (2003). - PubMed
    1. Casas A. et al. Integrated care prevents hospitalisations for exacerbations in COPD patients. Eur. Respir. J. 28, 123–130 (2006). - PubMed
    1. Garcia-Aymerich J. et al. Effects of an integrated care intervention on risk factors of COPD readmission. Respir. Med. 101, 1462–1469 (2007). - PubMed

Publication types