New Adopters of Telemedicine During the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic in Respondents to an Online Community Survey: The Case for Access to Remote Management Tools for Individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Objectives: To investigate telemedicine adoption, emergency department avoidance, and related characteristics of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with and without exacerbations since the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began. Methods: We conducted the second of a series of online surveys via SurveyMonkey.com of people with COPD between May 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020. Frequency, percentage, and Fisher’s exact test (2-sided) were calculated using SPSS version 26. Results: More than half of respondents (157, 64%), indicated that they started using telemedicine in 2020. A total of 47% of respondents reported having had at least 1 exacerbation since January 1, 2020. Respondents who had at least 1 exacerbation in 2020 were more likely to start using telemedicine in 2020 than respondents who did not report any exacerbation in 2020 (75.7% versus 54.3%, p < 0.001). Respondents reporting a 2020 exacerbation indicated having a significantly higher avoidance of emergency health care since the pandemic began (27.8%) as compared to those who did not have an exacerbation in 2020 (10.1%), p < 0.001. Conclusions: In response to social distancing and other COVID-19 precautions, people with COPD are avoiding traditional, in-person health care environments and turning to telemedicine to prevent and manage exacerbations. Further investigation is needed to identify best practices in and barriers to telemedicine in this population.