Screening Patients for a Strategic Shift to Pulmonary Telerehabilitation Because of COVID-19
Condition: Respiratory Disease
MeSH terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      This study applied the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Adapted Index of Self-Efficacy (PRAISE) on
      respiratory patients who had their on-going ambulatory Pulmonary Rehabilitation program
      interrupted due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The research hypothesis is that ranking patients'
      self-efficacy is a useful screening tool to support patients' follow-up on a Pulmonary
      Rehabilitation telehealth solution to be explored during the COVID-19 outbreak.
    

Detailed description: 
      This was an observational study applied to a convenience sample of Pulmonary Rehabilitation
      outpatients from Hospital Pulido Valente in Lisbon, Portugal, which had ambulatory treatments
      suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Cross-sectional design was operationalized by a
      physiotherapist who promptly screened by phone a sample of 100 patients, assessing 90% of the
      eligible population. Patients had no previous therapeutic relation with the physiotherapist,
      who was also blind to patient's status at the Pulmonary Rehabilitation program. The screening
      call took a mean time of 484.8 ± 173.6 seconds, which is proximately about 8 ± 3 minutes per
      patient, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 19 minutes. Screening process included applying
      the Portuguese version of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Adapted-Index of Self-Efficacy
      (PRAISE) and also included questioning patients if they were engaging on a daily routine of
      respiratory exercises by their initiative, and also if they managed to preserve a daily
      period to practice physical activity. In case of a positive answer, information concerning
      available equipment and exercise protocol adopted at patient's home environment was also
      collected. On a subsequent phase, data about patients' age, diagnosis referral for Pulmonary
      Rehabilitation, number of completed treatment sessions and weekly frequency, was collected
      from the hospital information system. Statistical analysis and data management were performed
      using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 (SPSS Inc.,
      Chicago, IL, USA). A formal sample size was not calculated since this was a convenience
      sample of 100 patients. Descriptive statistics included mean, standard-deviation, median,
      quartiles, range, minimum and maximum values and frequencies presented as percentages.
      Inferential statistics included the Pearson coefficient for PRAISE, age and number of
      treatment sessions, with the remaining variables analysed by the Spearman coefficient. PRAISE
      was the primary outcome, with mean comparison analysed by the Student t test, proved the
      normal distribution and equal variances. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered
      statistically significant.
    

Intervention name(s): Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Respiratory Physiotherapy, Exercise Therapy, Patient Education
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        100 adults attending an outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation program based at Hospital
        Pulido Valente from Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, in Lisbon, Portugal
      
Keywords: self-efficacy; PRAISE; Pulmonary Telerehabilitation