Effect of telephone and SMS Follow-up on quality of life and fatigue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A three-month RCT-follow-up study

Background and aims: To compare the effect of telephone and SMS follow-up of an empowerment program on quality of life (QOL) and fatigue in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Non-blind randomized clinical trial (RCT). Two hospitals and clinics in Shahrekord. 105 patients with COPD grades 2 and 3 were recruited and, after implementation in empowerment sessions, were randomly assigned to three control, telephone follow-up, and SMS follow-up groups (35 individuals in each group). First, the pulmonary empowerment program was designed and implemented for six 90-minute sessions. Then, the patients were randomly assigned to three groups using a random number table. Follow-up ended after three months, and the control group received routine care. Data were collected in the first and sixth sessions of the empowerment program and at the end of the follow-up period using demographic (QOL) and fatigue questionnaires. Eventually, they were analyzed through correlation coefficient and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests in the SPSS software (Version 20). Results: The study results on QOL showed that the groups were not statistically significantly different before and after the empowerment (respectively: P=0.29 and P=0.56). However, the groups showed statistically significant differences at the end of the quarterly follow-up period (P<0.001). ANOVA results for fatigue indicated no statistically significant differences between the groups before and after the empowerment (respectively: P=0.10 and P=0.32). The results of this study showed that follow-up by SMS and telephone improved patients’ QOL, and SMS had a greater effect in this regard. Conclusion: The findings suggest using follow-up as an essential approach to empowerment using various technology methods and designing more comprehensive empowerment to reduce patient fatigue.