Newsletters and adherence to a weekly home spirometry program after lung transplant

Newsletters are a common intervention for patients in clinical trials. However, it is not clear whether newsletters are associated with increased adherence to the health regimen, and if so, which aspects of the newsletter are reported as most helpful to patients.

To examine the association between patients' ratings of worthwhileness of a quarterly newsletter and adherence with a home spirometry regimen.

Patients (n=48) were in a research-based spirometry program after lung transplant and had received at least 1 newsletter; 24 (50%) returned completed surveys via postal mail.

Adherence for forced vital pulmonary function tests for respondents versus nonrespondents, number of weeks they were adherent, ratings they gave the newsletter, and which components of the newsletters were helpful to the respondents.

Respondents had more forced vital capacity pulmonary function tests ("blows") overall, blew more times weekly, and blew more consistently from week to week than did nonrespondents. Although it was not statistically significant, a mild correlation was found between the number of weeks that the respondents were adherent and their ratings of the newsletter (r = 0.36, P = .08). Most respondents reported that newsletter length was "about right", and 86% reported that newsletters helped encourage regular spirometer use, maintain interest in the study, educate about general health, and alert readers to seasonal health risks.

High ratings for newsletters used to encourage participation among adults in our home spirometry study were associated with higher adherence.