Preferences for Use and Design of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Objectives Collection of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures is critical to fully understand chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management and progression, as the impact on health-related quality of life is not well understood by objective measures alone. Electronic PROs (ePROs) are increasingly used because of their advantages over paper data collection, including elimination of transcription errors, increased accuracy and data quality, real-time data reporting, and increased compliance. The objective of this study was to characterize how patients with COPD prefer to use various types of technology to report disease symptoms, and their preferences for ePRO design and display. Methods The sample consisted of subjects with COPD (N = 103) who completed in-person surveys on their ePRO preferences. Results The majority of subjects prefer to use a form of electronic media over paper to report their disease symptoms. Of these electronic methods, subjects most often prefer to use a smartphone provided by their physician. Subjects were also interested in ePRO features, such as knowing estimated PRO completion time at the outset, tracking their progress in real time as they complete a questionnaire, seeing the data that they report in order to track their health status, being encouraged to complete their diary if they fall behind by positive messaging, and being thanked for their completion of a daily diary. Conclusions Investigators should consider including these preferences when designing ePRO assessments. Incorporating patient preferences for ePRO design can ultimately help reduce patient burden and increase engagement, compliance, and improve data quality.