Home Telehealth Uptake and Continued Use Among Heart Failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: a Systematic Review

BACKGROUND Home telehealth has the potential to benefit heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, however large-scale deployment is yet to be achieved. PURPOSE The aim of this review was to assess levels of uptake of home telehealth by patients with HF and COPD and the factors that determine whether patients do or do not accept and continue to use telehealth. METHODS This research performs a narrative synthesis of the results from included studies. RESULTS Thirty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies that reported rates of refusal and/or withdrawal found that almost one third of patients who were offered telehealth refused and one fifth of participants who did accept later abandoned telehealth. Seven barriers to, and nine facilitators of, home telehealth use were identified. CONCLUSIONS Research reports need to provide more details regarding telehealth refusal and abandonment, in order to understand the reasons why patients decide not to use telehealth.