TELE-monitoring in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPD is the fourth cause of death worldwide and it is expected to be the third in 2020. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has a positive impact in reducing mortality related to chronic respiratory failure in stable patients with COPD. Moreover, the addition of home NIV to home oxygen therapy reduces hospital admissions and improves patients outcomes. Patients monitoring is crucial. It is increasingly recognized the potential of telemedicine in reducing morbidity and mortality, as well as healthcare utilisation and its associated costs. In particular, home telemonitoring (TM)- a technology measuring patients'clinical parameters and symptoms at home and allowing communication between healthcare professionals and patients over distance- has gained much attention. However, despite a growing body of evidence for TM in the management of COPD and other chronic diseases, the benefit of telemonitoring for Home mechanical ventilation concerning clinical and economic outcomes remains to be clearly demonstrated. The study aims to assess the impact that telemonitoring would have NIV efficacy, patient quality of life and satisfaction, through a prospective randomized study.The primary endpoint is the time for appropriate adaptation and therapy efficacy, defined as average SatO2 to 90% in 24h oximetry.