Qualitative study of perceptions of older people with COPD and chronic heart disease on home telemonitoring in long term conditions published

chromedThe latest study from researchers at CaHRU was published this month (July 2017) in BMC Medical Infromatics and Decision Making. Entitled ‘Perceptions on use of home telemonitoring in patients with long term conditions – concordance with the Health Information Technology Acceptance Model: a qualitative collective case study‘, and co-authored by Dr Jo Middlemass (visiting fellow), Jolien Vos (doctoral student) and Prof Niro Siriwardena (director), the study formed part of the process evaluation of a large multicentre, multinational trial funded through the European Framework 7 programme, Clinical tRials fOr elderly patients with MultiplE Disease (CHROMED: clinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01960907).

Figure 2This was a qualitative interview study of patients aged between 60 years and over together with their partners or relatives where applicable on implementation of a telemonitoring system in their homes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) combined with heart disease. Patients and their relatives were largely positive about telemonitoring but they expressed concerns regarding health professional access and attachment; heightened illness anxiety and desire to avoid continuation of the ‘sick-role’; the need for good organisational processes and informal support. Ease of use was connected to equipment design being suitable for older people. Participants felt it was important to establish trends in health status, to enable detection of early signs of infection and increase the potential for patients to self-manage.

CaHRU_logotypeThe main trial results have been previously presented at the European Respiratory Society conference and these are currently being prepared for publication. The overall conclusion of this sub-study was that to increase home telemonitoring acceptance among older people, consideration of equipment design and organisational factors was important.

By Niro Siriwardena

CaHRU team attends CHROMED European trial meeting in Uppsala, Sweden

Dr Jo Middlemass, trial nurse, and Prof Niro Siriwardena who are members of the Clinical Trials for Elderly Patients with Multiple Diseases (CHROMED) (Funding by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme) attended the final investigator team meeting in Uppsala earlier this month (March 2016).

IMG_4175The study includes a consortium of seven European countries led by TESAN (Italy), Restech and including Del Politcnico Di Milano (Italy), University of Liverpool (UK), Tallina Tehnikaulikool (Estonia), Universitat De Barcelona (Spain), Uppsala Universitet (Sweden), Universitetssykehuset Nord-Norge (Norway), Bolnisnica Sezana Zavod (Slovenia), University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.

The CHROMED study has been investigating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a telemonitoring system for people with multiple chronic disease, specifically Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and heart disease. The trial in Lincoln involved a feasibility study of five patients and a randomisation cohort of 32 patients aged 65 years and above in Lincolnshire. The monitoring equipment included a novel device for measuring lung function (using a technique called forced oscillation) and a wrist clinic measuring pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and temperature.

chromedThe study has already shown evidence that monitoring can detect patients’ worsening condition, even before symptoms are apparent. The study data have now been collected and are being analysed to see whether the monitoring system has improved patients’ outcomes, quality of life and healthcare costs.

 

 

CHROMED meeting under the midnight sun

Members of  Community and Health Research Unit (CaHRU), Jo Middlemass (research nurse) and Prof Niro Siriwardena travelled north to Tromsø, Norway, in the Arctic Circle, to discuss progress and the next phase of the European Commission Framework 7 funded study, Clinical tRials fOr elderly patients with MultiplE Disease (CHROMED).

chromed partners at Tromso

CHROMED is an international multicentre randomised control trial in five European countries: United Kingdom, Sweden, Estonia, tromso cathedralSpain and Slovenia, representing different social and organisational contexts in Europe. The study is seeking to investigate the effectiveness of health and lifestyle status management using telehealth to support elderly patients with multiple conditions including chronic obstructive lung disease and chronic heart disease or sleep apnoea. The Lincoln arm of the study, which involves a partnership between Lincoln Community Health Services NHS Trust and CaHRU at the University of Lincoln comprises a feasibility study of five patients followed by a full study involving 32 patients.

tromso midnight sunTromsø in the summer has permanent daylight, which means that after a hard day’s work many local residents and visiting researchers can be seen climbing the local mountains to enjoy the view!