Digital program to help people with COPD manage their symptoms

Digital Tool for Improved Self-management of COPD

This project will test a smartphone app combined with home spirometry to help adults with COPD who had at least one exacerbation in the past year manage their condition over six months.

Quick facts

• Phase: NA
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 50 (estimated)
• Ages: 40 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Karolinska Institutet (other)
• Locations: 1 site (Solna, Stockholm County)
• Trial ID: NCT07573098 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This open pilot feasibility study will enroll 50 adults with COPD and at least one exacerbation in the previous year. Participants will be onboarded to a digital platform (smartphone app plus home spirometry) and asked to follow personalized self-management guidance while researchers monitor feasibility, usability, and safety over six months. Secondary outcomes include the number and adequacy of healthcare contacts recorded during follow-up. Participants without compatible smartphones or electronic identification will be excluded and safety considerations will exclude those for whom home spirometry is unsafe.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults aged 40 or older with a documented COPD diagnosis using at least two inhaled medications and with at least one exacerbation in the past year who have an Android (v8+) or iOS (v16+) smartphone, access to BankID (or similar), and can perform home spirometry are the intended participants.

Not a fit: Patients with very severe COPD or other conditions that make home spirometry unsafe, those without compatible smartphones or electronic ID, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people unable to give informed consent are unlikely to benefit from this intervention.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the digital tool could help people detect worsening symptoms earlier, strengthen self-management skills, and reduce respiratory-related healthcare visits or hospital admissions.

How similar studies have performed: Systematic reviews, including a 2022 Cochrane review, indicate that self-management interventions for COPD can improve quality of life and reduce respiratory-related admissions, though evidence specifically for digital tools is mixed and still emerging.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Subjects from the age of 40 years with documented diagnosis of COPD, using at least two inhaled medications (one combination inhaler or several inhalers), and with at least one exacerbation within the last year will be invited to voluntarily participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Exclusion criteria is severe disease from either COPD or any severe concomitant conditions that would make home spirometry unsafe for the patient. Patients with no access to use BankID or similar electronic personal identification service and not using smartphones will be excluded. Also, individuals who are pregnant or breastfeeding women, and individuals who are unable to provide informed consent due to cognitive impairment or other reasons indicating lack of decision-making capacity will be excluded.

Where this trial is running

Solna, Stockholm County

• KPE Lung and Allergy, QB:84, Karolinska University Hospital. — Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden (RECRUITING)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Henrik Ljungberg

Conditions: COPD, Self-management, Digital technology