Engaging technology for encouraging physical activity in COPD patients: A first user test

It is known that a physically active lifestyle can improve quality of life and help in managing COPD. It is important for patients to be aware of how physically active they are. Our aim was to test usage, usability, acceptance, and compliance of a web-based physical activity interface (PAI) in COPD patients. 14 COPD patients were recruited (age: 60.9±8.8yrs; 5M, 9F) at the CIRO+ Expertise Center (Horn, Netherlands). Patients were provided a Direct Life (Philips) activity monitor (AM) and physical activity (PA) was monitored for 2 weeks. Patients were provided with the PAI and were instructed to upload their PA data recorded by the AM, review it, plan and mark as complete their activities each day. Patients were not encouraged or asked to perform any additional PA and were interviewed about their experiences and acceptance of the PAI. Compliance to wearing the AM was 88.2±20.5% of time and patients showed an average daily active energy expenditure of 398.5±191.6 kcal. Patients logged on daily with a minimum of 2 sessions but with lower usage during weekends. The average daily time spent on the PAI was 11 minutes. Patients planned 2.68±1.89 tasks a day with 1.70±1.66 tasks marked as complete. There was a significant correlation between the number of planned and completed tasks (r=0.69; p=0.0042). The PAI scored high (u003e80%) on Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of use questionnaire. Patients were highly engaged in the PAI indicated by the high compliance to activity monitoring and planning tasks. Although patients indicated a beneficial value for managing their PA, further studies are needed to prove the efficacy of a PAI and verify whether such tool could be used in improving/maintaining PA.