Abstract
Rationale A 3 month tele-coaching (TC) program is effective to increase physical activity (PA) in patients with COPD, but the impact of contact time between patient and coach has never been assessed.
Methods 140 patients with COPD, allocated to TC as part of a multicenter RCT (NCT02158065), were analysed. The TC consisted of patients interacting with a stepcounter and a smartphone application. Telephone contact was initiated if patients did not increase their PA goal or in case of health/technical issues. PA was measured by Actigraph GT3x at baseline and week 12.
Results Total median[IQR] contact time per patient was 50[30-100] minutes in 6[4-9] contacts with the coach. These contacts were mainly related to not increasing PA goal (39.5%) and to technical issues (58.3%). In a tertile analysis, patients with a low/medium contact time had more PA improvement (steps) compared to those with high contact time (p=0.01). High contact time patients were older and had a worse baseline FEV1 and functional exercise capacity.
| Low contact (<35 min) N=55 | Medium contact (35-70min) N=37 | High contact (>70min) N=48 | p-value | |
| Age (years) | 66±8 | 63±10* | 68±6 | 0.02 |
| Gender, Male(%) | 34(62) | 25(68) | 30(62) | 0.8 |
| FEV1(%) | 60±22* | 53±17 | 50±20 | 0.03 |
| 6 MWD (meters) | 438±113 | 472±79* | 414±111 | 0.05 |
| ΔPA (steps/day) | 598[-437 to 3025]* | 1103[-220 to 2252]* | -84[-861 to 642] | 0.01 |
Data expressed as mean±SD, median [IQR] or as number (%). * p< 0.05 vs. High contact
[table1] Patient characteristics
Conclusion Older and more severe patients need more interaction with their coach and have less improvement in PA compared to patients with a lower contact time. Such patients may not be ideal candidates for telecoaching only.
Funding:IMU-JU#115011.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
