Journal article
The Association Between Technology Use and Health Status in a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Cohort: Multi-Method Study
Journal of medical Internet research, Vol.20(4), e125
0
04/02/2018
DOI: 10.2196/jmir.9382
PMCID: PMC5902698
PMID: 29610113
Abstract
Telemedicine and electronic health (eHealth) interventions have been proposed to improve management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for patients between traditional clinic and hospital visits to reduce complications. However, the effectiveness of such interventions may depend on patients' comfort with technology. The aim was to describe the relationship between patient demographics and COPD disease severity and the use of communication-related technology. We administered a structured survey about the use of communication technologies to a cohort of persons in the COPDGene study at one midwestern hospital in the United States. Survey results were combined with clinical and demographic data previously collected as part of the cohort study. A subsample of patients also completed eHealth simulation tasks. We used logistic or linear regression to determine the relationship between patient demographics and COPD disease severity and reported use of communication-related technology and the results from our simulated eHealth-related tasks. A total of 686 patients completed the survey and 100 participated in the eHealth simulation. Overall, those who reported using communication technology were younger (P=.005) and had higher incomes (P=.03). Men appeared less likely to engage in text messaging (P<.001) than women. Patients who spent more time on tasks in the eHealth simulation had greater odds of a COPD Assessment Test score >10 (P=.02) and walked shorter distances in their 6-minute walk tests (P=.003) than those who took less time. Older patients, patients with lower incomes, and less healthy patients were less likely to report using communication technology, and they did not perform as well on our simulated eHealth tasks. Thus, eHealth-based interventions may not be as effective in these populations, and additional training in communication technology may be needed.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Association Between Technology Use and Health Status in a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Cohort: Multi-Method Study
- Creators
- Matthew J Witry - University of Iowa, Pharmacy Practice and ScienceAlejandro Comellas - University of Iowa, Internal MedicineJacob Simmering - University of Iowa, Pharmacy Practice and SciencePhilip Polgreen - University of Iowa, Internal Medicine
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of medical Internet research, Vol.20(4), e125
- Event
- 0
- DOI
- 10.2196/jmir.9382
- PMID
- 29610113
- PMCID
- PMC5902698
- NLM abbreviation
- J Med Internet Res
- ISSN
- 1438-8871
- eISSN
- 1438-8871
- Publisher
- JMIR; Canada
- Copyright
- ©Matthew Witry, Alejandro Comellas, Jacob Simmering, Philip Polgreen.
- Grant note
- This study received no external funding. The manuscript was approved by the COPDGene project, but they had no input on the manuscript. Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/02/2018
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy; Epidemiology; Pharmacy Practice and Science; Injury Prevention Research Center; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9983756977602771
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