Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease

This is a pilot study to evaluate the role digital inhaler technology on patients with obstructive lung disease in preventing admissions and exacerbation, as well as improving symptom control. The primary objective is to evaluate feasibility of study protocol, patient recruitment, and patient retention with goal recruitment of 20 participants, 60% recruitment success, and 60% retention rate for 6 months duration. The secondary objectives are the evaluation of patient admission rate, exacerbation rates, and symptoms control with use of digital inhaler technology The subject population will be patients with physician diagnosed obstructive lung disease.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) is an evidence-based intervention to effectively manage the physiological and psychological effects of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The aims of PR are to improve symptoms of COPD, increase exercise capacity, increase independency, improve overall behaviour related to health (like exercising more), and enhance quality of life. The cornerstone of PR programmes is aerobic exercise prescription. Typically, walking exercise is used, and the prescription is individualised for each patient based on their maximal walking exercise capacity. However, adherence to walking exercise is challenging for service users, particularly when unsupervised at home. The use of music during exercise shows promise as a tool to decrease the perception of fatigue and increase motivation, but the integration of music via smartphone applications to support walking exercise adherence during PR has not been explored. This project aims to assess if a new mobile application BeatClearWalker (BCW) intervention is practical, acceptable, and effectively used by people living with COPD. The app is designed to help people living with COPD attending PR adhere to their prescribed walking pace during exercise. The BCW app provides real-time, personalised music feedback through music degradation to optimise the dose of walking exercise.

This is a multicenter, prospective observational cohort study, in which patients with chronic airway diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), asthma, asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS) will be recruited.