JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (pwCOPD) experience a range of limitations, which have a significant effect on their health. Self-management and pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) are key treatments for pwCOPD, however, barriers often limit their uptake and adherence. To overcome these barriers, a digital self-management intervention called PocketMedic (PM) was developed and evaluated in pwCOPD alongside, and in addition, to PR.

Objective:

To use a parallel-group design to investigate the effectiveness of PocketMedic at increasing self-management in comparison, and in addition, to standard PR

Methods:

53 participants were recruited to one of three groups: PM and PR, PM, or PR. Data was collected at baseline and 7 weeks (after the interventions had finished). Questionnaires on health-related quality of life, self-management knowledge, and disease knowledge were collected. MANOVAs and ANOVAs were used to analyse the data.

Results:

The analyses found that the improvements from those receiving PM were not statistically significantly different to those receiving PR, indicating that PM may replicate the benefits underpinning self-management behaviours seen by those attending PR. However, there were no additional benefits when participants received PM and PR in combination.

Conclusions:

PM may be a useful treatment to support COPD self-management, especially when barriers prevent pwCOPD receiving traditional services such as PR. The quantitative results suggest that PM may be less beneficial when delivered alongside PR. Feedback from participants indicated that they would prefer to receive PM whilst they were on the waiting-list for PR, to support them during this time and alleviate the apprehensions associated with attending PR. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Clinical Trial: Trial registry name: ClinicalTrials.gov URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03263754 Registration number: NCT03263754