TY - JOUR T1 - Home monitoring by pulse oximetry of primary care patients with COVID-19 - a pilot randomised controlled trial JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract DO - 10.3399/BJGP.2022.0224 SP - BJGP.2022.0224 AU - Karin Smit AU - Roderick P. Venekamp AU - Loeke Krol AU - Geert-Jan Geersing AU - Lisette Schoonhoven AU - Karin A.H. Kaasjager AU - Frans Rutten AU - Dorien L Zwart Y1 - 2022/11/16 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/early/2022/11/15/BJGP.2022.0224.abstract N2 - Background: During the course of the pandemic, home or remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients with pulse oximetry took off, but evidence on its use is scarce. Aim: To assess the feasibility of home monitoring by pulse oximetry of patients aged ≥40 years with cardiovascular comorbidity and moderate-severe COVID-19. Design and Setting: A primary care-based, open, randomised controlled pilot trial with nested process evaluation. Method: From December 2020 to June 2021, eligible patients presenting to one of 14 Dutch general practices were randomly allocated to regular measurement of peripheral oxygen saturation (at least 3 SpO2 measurements/day for 14 days) with a validated pulse oximeter or usual care. Results: All 41 participants (21 intervention, 20 usual care) completed the 45-day follow-up period. Overall, the intervention group performed 97.6% of protocolised measurements; median daily measurement/participant: 2.7 (interquartile range 1-4). Hypoxemia (SpO2<94%) was reported in ten participants (in 52 measurements). Of those, six consulted the general practitioner as instructed. Participants reported a high feeling of safety (0-100 visual analogue scale): 71.8 intervention vs. 59.8 control (p=0.09). Primary care consultations were similar across groups: 50 intervention vs. 51 control. Ten participants visited the emergency department (7 intervention vs. 3 control) of which six were hospitalised (5 intervention vs. 1 control). No participants were admitted to the ICU or died during follow-up. Conclusions: Home monitoring of moderate-severe COVID-19 patients by pulse oximetry appeared feasible; adherence was high, patients reported a high feeling of safety, while the number of primary care consultations remained similar to usual care. ER -