A pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial of telehealth on disease specific quality of life in patients’ with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and their health-related quality of life and psychological distress over 1 year in the Whole System Demonstrator programme

摘要

IntroductionThere is limited evidence for the effectiveness of TH on quality of life (QoL) in patients with COPD. A systematic review in the area inclusive of all respiratory conditions indicated that there were no UK based studies, or randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of TH for COPD (Janna et al. 2009). A more recent systematic review found 6 studies, only two of which measured QoL as an outcome (Bolton et al. 2010). One of these studies was a RCT and found improvements in QoL at 3 months (Koff 2009), while the other was a non-controlled before and after study which found no difference in quality of life scores at 6 months (Trappenburg, 2008). Research in this area is plagued by small sample sizes, absence of longer-term follow-ups, insufficient descriptions of the intervention, poor internal validity of whether using the device in the context of a complex healthcare intervention leads to improved outcomes for the patient, and few attempts to measure quality of life in patients with COPD following the introduction of these devices.