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

Background Home-based self-monitoring has failed to show intended savings to healthcare budgets yet it continues to emerge and gain popularity. Objective We set out to verify stakeholders' perspectives of remote vital sign telemonitoring. Design An observational design was adopted by devising a survey for distribution to service users and their informal carers. Sample Service users in South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust were included. A total of 274 questionnaires were issued. Data from 97 patients (35% response rate) and 49 carers were analysed. Of these, 81 patients and 48 of their carers experienced a monitoring service known as TF3 and 16 patients and 1 carer experienced a service known as U-Tell. The cohorts comprised people living with a number of long-term conditions: diabetes, hypertension after stroke, chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, bronchiectasis and those requiring anticoagulation using warfarin. Results Analysis showed that respondents were supportive of the technology with 90.7% of patients agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement: the remote monitoring system assisted me in managing my health on a day-to-day basis. The patients liked the technology largely because it provided empowerment and control for self-management and allowed them to continue with their lives without major disruption. These views were independent of the technology used and not associated with the patient's long-term conditions, gender or age. There were no reported adverse incidents. Conclusion As self-monitoring becomes more relevant to healthcare delivery, the technology will be accepted by many in the population with long-term conditions.