Nurse Tele-Consultations With Discharged COPD Patients Reduce the Numbers of Readmissions

NCT00918905 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Telekol-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Patients with COPD are often admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation. It is the most common cause for admissions to medical wards. The patients are often readmitted. This is har great impact on health economy and is a significant factor to medical beds. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of telemedicine consultations between respiratory nurses at the hospital and COPD patients in their homes after a discharge from the hospital, which was caused by an exacerbation.

Conditions

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

Keywords

pervasive healthcare; telecare; telemedicine; COPD

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• readmission to hospital

  4 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• the duration of hospital readmission

  days

Study Arms (2)

1 Telemonitor

EXPERIMENTAL

Within 24 hours after the patient was discharged the telemedicine equipment was installed at the patient's home. The patients were included for four weeks followed by a visit to the outpatient clinic with a doctor. The patient was planned to have the equipment for approximately one week and had at least one follow-up phone call within the four weeks period. Telemonitoring video conferences could be made from 8 AM to 3 PM every day. The patient could call the telemedicine department in the same period of time (hot-line).

Device: Telemonitor

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

No tele-monitor at home. The COPD patients discharged after an acute exacerbation living outside Svendborg or Faaborg-Midtfyn municipalities in the recruiting area were included in the control group and assigned to conventional care.

Interventions

Telemonitor DEVICE

Within 24 hours after the patient was discharged due to exacerbation in COPD the telemedicine equipment was installed at the patient's home. The patients were included for four weeks followed by a visit to the outpatient clinic with. The patient had the equipment for approximately one week and had at least one follow-up phone call. Televideo consultations could be made from 8 AM to 3 PM every day. The patient could call the telemedicine department in the same period. During the televideo consultations the nurse made clinical observations (i.e. dyspnoea, anxiety), measured saturation and lung function and informed the patients how to prevent exacerbations. The telemedicine consultation was agreed on with the patient and the telemedicine nurse from day to day.

Also known as: telemonitoring, integrated care, telemedicine

1 Telemonitor

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 40 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Exacerbation in COPD with dyspnea, cough
• Need for medical treatment
• Age above 40 years
• Above 10 pack years
• The ability to use a phone

You may not qualify if:

• Communication problems
• Respiratory acidosis
• No other severe medical disease as cancer, sepsis, shock, pneumonia

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Svendborg Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Medical Department, OUH Svendborg Hospital

Svendborg, 5700, Denmark

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Hanne Madsen, Ph.D.

  Medical Department, OUH Svendborg Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 3, 2009
• First Posted: June 11, 2009
• Study Start: June 1, 2007
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2009
• Study Completion: February 1, 2009
• Last Updated: June 11, 2009

Record last verified: 2009-06

Locations

DK (1)