A pilot study of a novel home telemonitoring system for oncology patients receiving chemotherapy

We examined the accuracy and acceptability of a home telemonitoring system for patients receiving chemotherapy. Patients undergoing two cycles of chemotherapy (over six weeks) used the telemonitoring system to analyse their own blood (capillary) and to enter symptom and temperature data. The blood results obtained from self-testing were compared with those from a venous blood sample analysed in the hospital laboratory analyser (the gold standard). We also documented the number and type of alerts generated by the telemonitoring system. Acceptability (ease of use and patient satisfaction) was assessed using questionnaires. Ten patients (mean age 61 years, 60% female) provided 48-paired samples. None of the patients succeeded in obtaining all blood results within pre-defined limits of agreement (i.e. within 15% for haemoglobin, haematocrit, white cell count; and 20% for neutrophil count) during the study. However, the level of clinical agreement between the system and the laboratory standard was good; only three out of the 48 samples and two out of the 10 patients had differences in blood results that might have had clinical implications. The telemonitoring system correctly generated 42 alerts. The patients found the telemonitoring system easy to use. With further refinement this should become an acceptable component of routine clinical practice for monitoring patients receiving chemotherapy.