Use of Ecological Momentary Assessment to Measure Dyspnea in COPD

Abstract

Sarah N Miller,1 Michelle Nichols,1 Ronald J Teufel II,2 Erin P Silverman,3 Marta Walentynowicz4 1College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, SC, USA; 2College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, SC, USA; 3Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; 4Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumCorrespondence: Sarah N Miller, Medical University of South Carolina, College of Nursing, 99 Jonathan Lucas Street, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Dyspnea is an unpredictable and distressing symptom of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dyspnea is challenging to measure due to the heterogeneity of COPD and recall bias associated with retrospective reports. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) is a technique used to collect symptoms in real-time within a natural environment, useful for monitoring symptom trends and risks of exacerbation in COPD. EMA can be integrated into mobile health (mHealth) platforms for repeated data collection and used alongside physiological measures and behavioral activity monitors. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of mHealth and EMA for dyspnea measurement, consider clinical implications of EMA in COPD management, and identify needs for future research in this area.Keywords: COPD, ecological momentary assessment, mobile health, dyspnea, mHealth, telehealth

Keywords

• copd
• ecological momentary assessment
• mobile health
• dyspnea
• mhealth
• telehealth