Patient and carer survey of remote vital sign telemonitoring for self-management of long-term conditions

What is it about?

What is already known? Remote vital sign telemonitoring (RVT) has been difficult to introduce into mainstream health service provision, due to a lack of convincing evidence. A whole system demonstrator trial was undertaken in England and Wales, but findings were equivocal, regardless of the metric of interest (readmission, value for money). In Scotland a large study, of people living with COPD, reported mainly negative findings with regards to readmission (which increased). In Northern Ireland a large regional trial of telemonitoring was introduced in 2011 but discontinued when the regional contract was not renewed in 2018. However, a previous study indicated that patients largely approved of the telemonitoring. 

What does this paper add? We collected detailed feedback from 97 patients and 49 carers in South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust. We found that self-monitoring of long-term conditions was readily accepted by most patients and the technology provided empowerment for both patients and carers. Our findings were not technology-dependent and not condition-specific. The participation rate of 35% is common for this approach. However, a weakness is that the respondents may have been more supportive of the intervention than those who did not respond.

How might this impact on clinical practice? Many patients with long-term conditions and their carers will support the introduction of RVT for self-management. Even if the uptake rate of RVT is commensurate with the survey response (i.e. 35%) it will lead to a disruptive approach to managing long-term conditions: patients tend to benefit from the support provided, in spite of the lack of cost effectiveness.


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