A novel multimodal tool for telemonitoring patients with COPD

Abstract

Introduction: Among factors that underlie high rates of non-participation reported in telehealth interventions are the low older users’ acceptance of information technologies and the low levels of non-compliance with therapy of chronic patients. Therefore, inclusion of potential users into design stages of assistive technologies is challenging. In this paper, the design, implementation and evaluation of a multimodal mobile application for telemonitoring chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is presented. The goal of the study was to assess the usability and feasibility of the designed tool.

Methods: An iterative user-centered design methodology was applied to implement a prototype that satisfied users’ requirements. Feasibility (compliance, COPD knowledge and satisfaction) of the application was assessed in a 6-month field trial with COPD patients.

Results: A usable, effective and efficient prototype was released after the development process. A high compliance (86.1%) and an increasing in COPD knowledge were achieved in the field trial.

Conclusions: The findings reveal the importance of integrating usability in the design development processes to improve adherence to routine tasks and to reduce the high rates of non-participation reported in recent evaluation studies of telehealth interventions. The presented tool can help to recognize early symptoms of deterioration and to support patients in COPD self-management.

• COPD
• home monitoring
• multimodal
• telemonitoring
• usability

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. This work was supported in part by the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) E.U. Joint Programme, by grants from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain and Instituto de Salud Carlos III under Projects PI08/90946 and PI08/90947.