title: Barriers for recruitment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to a controlled telemedicine trial.
abstract: The aim of this analysis is to investigate reasons why patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease decline to participate in a controlled trial of telemedicine. Patients with previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations were invited to participate in a 6-month randomized telemedicine trial. For eligible patients, reasons for refusal were registered. Of 560 eligible patients, 279 (50%) declined to participate in the trial, 257 (92%) reported a reason: 53 (20.6%) technical concerns, 164 (63.8%) personal reasons, 17 (6.6%) preferred outpatient clinic visits, and 23 (8.9%) did not want to participate in clinical research. Compared to consenting patients, subjects declining participation were significantly older, more often female, had higher lung function (%predicted), lower body mass index, higher admission-rate for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the previous year, and were more often diagnosed with osteoporosis. Many eligible patients decline participating in a controlled tele-healthcare trial and, furthermore, a tailored approach for recruiting females and elderly patients appears appropriate.
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Broendum
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Charlotte Suppli
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ulrik
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thorbjorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gregersen
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ejvind Frausing
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ringbaek
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D018579:Patient Selection; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
keywords: assistive technologies; decision-support systems; ehealth; organizational change and information technology; telecare