Home telemonitoring of severe chronic respiratory insufficient and asthmatic patients

For 9 months we evaluated a portable device to transfer patient-clinician data by Internet: oximetry, ECG, clinical questionnaires and messages from the doctor. Fifty-one patients with severe chronic respiratory insufficiency (CRI) were followed at the hospital Pulido Valente and Espírito Santo and 21 asthmatics (A) were followed at the latter hospital. The use and acceptance of this device was evaluated through questionnaires soliciting patients' and health professionals' opinions. Patients with CRI followed in Lisbon were also asked about hospital admissions and quality of life compared with a nine month period before the monitoring programme. CRI patients found learning to use the system more difficult; the majority (80%) reported problems with the equipment, qualified as rare/occasional in 62% of the cases. For 31 CRI patients followed in Lisbon, the use of the system was classified as correct in 12 patients, incorrect in 7 and reasonable in 12 patients. The first group had a reducded number and duration of hospital admissions and also improved quality of life. With this remote monitoring system 80% of CRI patients reported they were more/much more supported and 33 patients (75%) would use this system in the future. 81% of asthmatic patients would also like to maintain this type of monitoring. The service was considered useful by the researchers. We concluded that home telemonitoring was a positive contribution to the management of chronic patients and raised awareness of it should be considered in the future.