Research has not shown a strong case for telemedicine as a means to improve quality of life for patients with COPD, according to a literature review published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
The researchers looked at 18 studies pertaining to use of telemedicine interventions for patients with the disease. They found that the technology “is no holy grail.”
From the study:
“Out of the 18 studies fulfilling the criteria for inclusion in this review, three studies found statistically significant improvements in QoL for patients allocated to telemedical interventions. However, all of the other included studies found no statistically significant differences between control and telemedical intervention groups in terms of QoL.
“Telehealth does not make a strong case for itself when exclusively looking at QoL as an outcome, since statistically significant improvements relative to control groups have been observed only in few of the available studies. Nonetheless, this does not only rule out the possibility that telehealth is superior to standard care with regard to other outcomes but also seems to call for more research, not least in large-scale controlled trials.”
For COPD, Researchers Say Telemedicine is No ‘Holy Grail’
