Perceptions on the use of home telemonitoring in patients with COPD

Abstract: Introduction: There is a growing interest in how technology can be used in order to provide efficient healthcare. Aim: The aim is to explore perceptions on the use of home telemonitoring in patients with COPD.                                                                                                                             Method: Semi-structured individual interviews were carried out with eight women and five men who were part of a larger project aiming to develop and evaluate a telemonitoring system. Participants were interviewed after having used the system for two to four months. Interview transcripts were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in the theme a transition towards increased control and security and the categories: facing enablers or barriers, increasing control over the disease, providing easy access to care and affecting technical confidence or concern. Participants expressed initial feelings of insecurity, both in practical aspects using the telemonitoring system as well as regarding their disease. The telemonitoring system could reinforce and confirm the participants´ feelings of their current state of health, and the practical management of the telemonitoring system became easier with time.     Conclusion: Telemonitoring can be a valuable complement to healthcare with the potential to contribute to equity in care. However, in order to improve further development and implementation of telemonitoring, several actions are needed such as improved patient education and the use of co-creation. Additional research is needed particularly in the design of user-friendly systems as well as tools to predict which patients are most likely to find the equipment useful as it may result in reduced costs and increased empowerment.