Previous studies clearly established clinical benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) however uptake and completion rate of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) programs by these patients is limited by multiple barriers. The study team developed a Comprehensive Health Informatics Engagement Framework for Pulmonary Rehabilitation which facilitates patient referral and promotes adherence with pulmonary rehabilitation program using innovative multi-pronged approach. It includes computer-mediated patient counseling to increase patient motivation in joining PR program followed by ongoing home-based support of PR by a telerehabilitation system that monitors patients' progress and allows remote oversight by clinical PR team. The goal of this project is to systematically evaluate impact of Comprehensive Health Informatics Engagement Framework for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (CHIEF-PR) in a randomized controlled trial. The study team's main hypothesis is that CHIEF-PR will result in significantly higher rates of completion of a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program. The study team will enroll 120 COPD patients within 4 weeks of acute exacerbation of COPD into a randomized controlled trial and follow them for 12 months. Patients will be randomly assigned to intervention (CHIEF-PR) and control (best available standard of care) groups. Primary outcome will be completion rate of a comprehensive 3-month PR program. Secondary outcomes will include relevant clinical and patient-reported parameters.
Previous studies clearly established clinical benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease however uptake and completion rate of pulmonary rehabilitation programs by these patients is limited by multiple barriers. The goal of this project to systematically evaluate impact of Comprehensive Health Informatics Engagement Framework for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (CHIEF-PR) in a randomized controlled trial. The main hypothesis is that CHIEF-PR will result in significantly higher rates of completion of a comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program.