title: Effectiveness of Telemonitoring in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Taiwan-A Randomized Controlled Trial.
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.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Te-Wei
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Traumatology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Ta
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration and Medical Informatics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.|Research Education and Epidemiology Center, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Herng-Chia
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheng-Yuan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chong-Jen
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Feipei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011788:Quality of Life; D013624:Taiwan; D017216:Telemedicine