Telemedicine Research Center, National Research Institude of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease(NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (789 Views)
Abstract
Background: Tele-monitoring is a way to perform patient follow-up with the help of communication technologies. In the present study, the ability and willingness of patients with lung diseases to use the telemonitoring system were investigated and reported.
Method: Our study was performed on patients with chronic lung disease admitted to a referral pulmonary center clinic using a specially designed questionnaire.
The condition for patients to enter the study was to have at least the fifth level of elementary education and also to be willing to participate in the survey. Statistical analysis, including frequency, mean, and Mann-Whitney tests, was performed using SPSS software version 22.
Finding: A total of 158 patients were included in the survey; 61.5% were male and 38.5% female, with a mean age of 50.7 ± 14.11 years. Of the total patients, 98.7% (156 people) owned a mobile phone. Of these, 148 (91.7%) patients had a smartphone, and 147 used the internet. Considering the type of smartphone operating system, 85% of the mobiles had Android, and 15% had an iOS operating system. Among these, 13 patients used mobile-based health programs, and 135 patients had never used any mobile-based health programs. Gender, literacy, and disease type had no statistically significant effect on the patients’ responses to the questions.
Conclusion: Considering the overall willingness of our patients to use telecommunication, mobile health has a high potential to become a complementary method of treating patients with chronic lung diseases. Serious activities should be carried out to educate and encourage patients regarding the benefits, challenges, and restrictions of this remote method of patient monitoring.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
General