Rationale: Spirometry is essential in the diagnosis of airway disease and can be useful in monitoring patients. Despite the essential role, spirometry remains largely underused in primary care. Due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the use of office spirometry is contraindicated in many countries. Furthermore, spirometric devices are costly and personnel requires special training. Referral for spirometry increases the cost for patients and lowers the feasibility. Part of the reason for underdiagnosis of airway disease are the specific situations (such as exercise-induced asthma) in which spirometry in office setting might not reveal abnormalities. In recent years, handheld spirometry linked to phones/apps has been developed for study purposes and remote monitoring. Objective: To study the feasibility, quality and added value of at-home spirometry for the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in primary care.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
144
Nuvoair platform, consisting of a bluetooth spirometer, smartphone application and clinical portal
GPRI
Groningen, Netherlands
Karolinska Institute
Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden
Successful spirometry
Occurrence (expressed as percentage of patients) of home spirometry being graded A, following technical standards of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) (Graham, B. L. et al.)
Time frame: 1 day: Participant will perform one spirometry session including several manoeuvres
Clinically useful spirometry
Occurrence (expressed as percentage of patients) of home spirometry being graded A, B or C, following technical standards of the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society (Graham, B.L. et al.)
Time frame: 1 day: Participant will perform one spirometry session including several manoeuvres
Quality of spirometry, following ATS/ERS grading of spirometry
Quality of spirometry performed as rated by the device application using the American Thoracic Society /European Respiratory Society (ERS) grading of spirometry on a scale from A (≥3 acceptable and repeatability within 0.150 litre) to F (zero acceptable or usable) (Graham, B. L. et al.)
Time frame: 1 day: Participant will perform one spirometry session including several manoeuvres
Quality of spirometry curves as scored by independent spirometry professionals
Quality as assessed by visual inspection of curves and values by two or three (in case of disagreement between the first two) independent spirometry professionals whether manoeuvres are acceptable or not
Time frame: 1 day: Participant will perform one spirometry session including several manoeuvres
Healthcare professional's view on the added value of home spirometry
Individual scores on a 5-points Likert-scale of questions asked to healthcare professionals regarding the added value of home spirometry for monitoring and diagnosing of asthma and COPD (the Likert-scales range from strongly disagree to strongly agree)
Time frame: Immediately after completion of spirometry measurements
Patient's view on the added value of home spirometry
Individual scores on a 5-points Likert-scale of questions asked to the patient on the benefit of home spirometry (the Likert-scales range from strongly disagree to strongly agree)
Time frame: Immediately after completion of spirometry measurements
Degree of feasibility of home spirometry as rated by the healthcare professional
Individual scores on a 5-points Likert-scale of questions on the feasibility of home spirometry, scored by health professionals, including four questions of a validated tool as published by Weiner et al.
Time frame: Immediately after completion of spirometry measurements
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