Remote Monitoring of Patients with COVID-19 after Hospital Discharge with Connected Health Platform: Outcomes and Quality of Life

Author Info

César Morcillo Serra Domingo Marzal Martín Jorge Velázquez Moro José Francisco Tomás Martínez

Corresponding Author

César Morcillo Serra
Medical Direction, Sanitas Digital Hospital, Barcelona, Spain

A B S T R A C T

Background: Telemonitoring with applications and connected devices facilitates a more accessible and efficient attention. Its implementation has been accelerated thanks to the pandemic by COVID-19, where they have allowed the continuity of care. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a remote monitoring platform for the outpatient follow-up after hospital discharge by COVID-19. Methods: Prospective observational study of patients discharged from the hospital with COVID-19 infection between March 23 and May 25, 2020, who were followed for one month with the Connected Health telemonitoring platform. The mobile phone application connected to a pulse oximeter, allowed to measure vital signs and answer health questionnaires (EQ5D3L and CAT) daily, and alert the medical team that could be contacted by video consultation. Results: 95 patients (64% male) with a mean age of 54 (SD 26-81) years were included. The application allowed the detection of alerts for pain (80% of patients) and a decrease in oxygen saturation (12%). No patient required hospital readmission or presented complications. The application allowed strict monitoring of symptoms and quality of life. The main symptom was severe pain (59% of patients) followed by anxiety or depression (25%). The average state of health was 65 (SD 20-100). COVID-19 caused a low impact on the quality of life of 62% of the patients, although 8% reported a significant limitation, due to shortness of breath and leaving the house. Conclusion: telemonitoring allows a safe remote monitoring of patients after hospital discharge by COVID-19. The Connected Health application has allowed the measurement of oxygen saturation, symptoms and quality of life, and the detection and management of alerts by the medical team through video consultation.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Mon 24, Aug 2020
Accepted: Tue 08, Sep 2020
Published: Mon 21, Sep 2020

Copyright

© 2023 César Morcillo Serra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.JICOA.2020.05.05