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. 2019 Jun 21;7(6):e12645.
doi: 10.2196/12645.

Mobile Health Management Platform-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Prospective Clinical Trial

Wonjun Ji #  1 , Hee Kwon #  2 , Sungin Lee  2 , Seulgi Kim  1 , Jeong Sook Hong  1 , Yu Rang Park  3 , Hyeong Ryul Kim  3 , Jae Cheol Lee  4 , Eun Ji Jung  2 , Donghyun Kim  2 , Chang-Min Choi  1   4
Affiliations

Mobile Health Management Platform-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Prospective Clinical Trial

Wonjun Ji et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. .

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer patients experience various symptoms during treatment. Although pulmonary rehabilitation is an effective way to improve these symptoms, a medical environment of limited availability makes it difficult to provide seamless and adequate rehabilitation for lung cancer patients.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a personalized pulmonary rehabilitation program using real-time mobile patient health data for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: We conducted a prospective clinical trial in 64 patients with non-small cell lung cancer aged between 20 and 80 years at a large tertiary hospital in Seoul, South Korea. A 12-week personalized pulmonary rehabilitation program, called efil breath, was administered to determine the effectiveness of the newly developed rehabilitation app. Participants were randomly allocated to the fixed exercise or fixed-interactive exercise group (which received the personalized program). We measured changes in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and dyspnea (modified Medical Research Council [mMRC] score) at 6 weeks; and quality of life and service satisfaction at 12 weeks. We used the paired t test to analyze the variables.

Results: Patients used the newly developed mobile health pulmonary rehabilitation app and a real-time patient monitoring website. In all participants, significant changes were observed in 6MWD at 12 weeks from a mean of 433.43m (SD 65.60) to 471.25m (SD 75.69; P=.001), and mMRC from a mean score of 0.94 (0.66) to 0.61 (SD 0.82; P=.02). The intervention significantly improved their quality of life (EuroQol-visual analog scale [EQ-VAS]) compared with baseline (mean score 76.05, SD 12.37 vs 82.09, SD 13.67, respectively; P=.002).

Conclusions: A personalized mobile health-based pulmonary rehabilitation app for recording and monitoring real-time health data of patients with non-small cell lung cancer can supplement traditional health care center-based rehabilitation programs. This technology can encourage improvement of physical activity, dyspnea, and quality of life.

Keywords: carcinoma, non-small-cell lung; lung cancer; mHealth; pulmonary rehabilitation; telemedicine; telerehabilitation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design. (A) Flow of the proof-of-concept study; (B) flow of the clinical trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2
App screenshots showing (A) the 6-minute walk test, (B) exercise routines, and (C) a summary of the results.
Figure 3
Figure 3
App screenshots for the walking exercise showing (A) the operation screen, (B) standby screen, and (C) measurement of dyspnea.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Patient health data screen showing detailed information about exercise and health measurements for a fictional patient.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Flow of the study groups. (a) Participants using the fixed-regimen app; (b) participants using the interactive-regimen app. IC: informed consent.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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