Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40854157›Full record

Trial reportJMIR mHealth and uHealth2025

Smartphone App-Guided Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Respiratory Diseases: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Chiwook Chung, Deog Kyeom Kim, Jung-Kyu Lee, Eun Young Heo, Hee Kwon, Dongbum Kim, Woo Jin Kim, Sei Won Lee

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Chiwook Chung *Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0002-5643-6095
Deog Kyeom Kim *Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-9379-8098
Jung-Kyu LeeDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-5060-7255
Eun Young HeoDivision of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-3803-4903
Hee KwonLifeSemantics Corp, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-9910-1888
Dongbum KimLifeSemantics Corp, Seoul, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0009-0007-1941-7403
Woo Jin KimDepartment of Internal Medicine and Environmental Health Center, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-2927-370X
Sei Won LeeDepartment of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of Korea, 82 2-3010-3990, 82 2-3010-6968.ORCID 0000-0003-4814-6730

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation improves exercise capacity, dyspnea, quality of life, and survival in patients with chronic respiratory disease. However, center-based pulmonary rehabilitation programs remain unavailable in many health care facilities due to several barriers. To address this, we developed a smartphone app that enabled individuals to perform pulmonary rehabilitation at home. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of smartphone app-guided pulmonary rehabilitation in improving exercise capacity in individuals with chronic respiratory diseases. Methods: This was a multicenter prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted in 2022. A total of 100 participants with chronic respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer, were recruited, with equal distribution (50:50) between the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group followed a 12-week app-guided rehabilitation program, while the control group received standard outpatient treatment. The primary outcome was the 6-minute walk test distance (6MWD) after the 12-week rehabilitation period. Secondary outcomes included quality of life questionnaires and health care usage. Results: Among the 100 participants included, 88 completed the follow-up visit (41 in the intervention group and 47 in the control group). Their median age was 68.0 years, and 72 (81.8%) were men. Most participants (n=70, 79.5%) had a smoking history, with a median of 40.0 pack-years. Their forced expiratory volume in 1 second was a median of 63.0% (IQR 50.5-71.5). Most participants (n=85, 96.6%) had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. After the 12-week rehabilitation program, 6MWD was not different between the intervention and control group (median 490.0, IQR 468.8-556.3 vs 485.0, IQR 440.0-527.3 m). Assuming a clinically minimal effective change of 25 meters in 6MWD, only 7 out of 41 participants among the intervention group achieved the minimal clinically important differences after the rehabilitation program. Quality of life questionnaire scores, including the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, did not differ between groups. In addition, none of the participants experienced hospitalization or emergency room visits during the study period. Regarding the service satisfaction questionnaire, more than 3-quarters of the intervention group (34/41) rated their scores as ≥17/20. Conclusions: In this study, smartphone app-guided pulmonary rehabilitation failed to improve exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. However, the results indicated that older adults with chronic respiratory conditions can safely use smartphone app-guided pulmonary rehabilitation. Thus, smartphone app-guided pulmonary rehabilitation may be a feasible option for older adults with chronic respiratory disease.

Indexed as

Mobile ApplicationsAgedChronic DiseaseFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesPulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveQuality of LifeSingle-Blind MethodSurveys and Questionnairesappschronic respiratory diseasesCOPDlungsmHealthpulmonary rehabilitationrandomized controlled trialrespiratorysmartphoneswalking

Identifiers

PMID40854157
PMCPMC12377637

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.