title: Development and Evaluation of an Automated, Home-Based, Electronic Questionnaire for Detecting COPD Exacerbations.
abstract: Collaboration between patients and their medical and technical experts enabled the development of an automated questionnaire for the early detection of COPD exacerbations (AQCE). The questionnaire consisted of fourteen questions and was implemented on a computer system for use by patients at home in an un-supervised environment. Psychometric evaluation was conducted after a 6-month field trial. Fifty-two patients were involved in the development of the questionnaire. Reproducibility was studied using 19 patients (ICC = 0.94). Sixteen out of the 19 subjects started the 6 month-field trial with the computer application. Cronbach's alpha of 0.81 was achieved. In the concurrent validity analysis, a correlation of 0.80 (p = 0.002) with the CCQ was reported. The results suggest that AQCE is a valid and reliable questionnaire, showing that an automated home-based electronic questionnaire may enable early detection of exacerbations of COPD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco de B
authors.initials: Fde B
authors.lastname: Velazquez-Peña
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Telemedicine Research Group, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Morillo
authors.affiliation: Department of Philology, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crespo-Miguel
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Telemedicine Research Group, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Astorga-Moreno
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Santi-Cano
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering and Telemedicine Research Group, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Granero
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology and Allergy Unit, Puerta del Mar University Hospital, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leon-Jimenez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*