RESP-FIT: Technology-Enhanced Self-Management in COPD (RESP-FIT)

30 adults, aged 40 and older with mild to moderate COPD, will be recruited for this study. Participants must be willing to continually wear a FitBit activity monitor, have access to a smartphone or Wi-Fi/Data-enabled iPad, and be willing to complete respiratory muscle strength training exercises as well as reports on their smartphone at least 5 times per week for a 6-week period. Participants will be given a bluetooth inhaler device and a training app (RESP-FIT). This application will collect inhaler data and allows patients to self-report their daily symptoms. The goal of this study is to test whether use of the personalized inhaler device with the app strengthens lung function, promotes physical activity, and improves disease symptom self-management in persons with COPD.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: COPD
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: RESP-FIT; Behavioral: RESP-FIT Comparator

Detailed Description

RESP-FIT. The RESP-FIT program is a 6-week respiratory muscle strength training intervention adapted from previous respiratory muscle strength training (RMST) training regimens, consisting of 1) five training days/week using combined inspiratory and expiratory muscle training, consisting of breathing in and out against a combine inspiratory and expiratory muscle strength trainer (IMST/EMST), 2) individualized, progress-based text message training reminders and prompts related to timing and intensification calibration, and 3) use of a Fitbit for remote monitoring of physical activity and hours slept at night. Similar to other muscle strength training programs, exercises are done at regular intervals during the week (5 breaths, 5 times a day, 5 days a week; the participant will receive graphical illustration of RESP-FIT training frequency and intensity achieved, and based on their training regimen, will be prompted and/or reinforced via SMS text messaging). As the use of an accelerometer or remote tracking device alone may affect physical activity, a control group will receive only the Fitbit. This study proposes to assess the feasibility and initial efficacy of RMST by obtaining estimates of variability in fatigue secondary to dyspnea, using a technologically-enhanced RESP-FIT intervention. Our overarching hypothesis is that a training regimen consisting of RMST along with technology-enhanced symptom-tracking will decrease dyspnea, dyspnea-related activity avoidance, and fatigue. Additionally, this application proposes to further develop Smartphone Airway Monitoring System (SAMS) which currently integrates EMA probe questions covering COPD symptoms and preventive care use with the new functions, use in an adult population with COPD, video captured training technique and logging of RMST training sessions. Up to thirty adults with COPD (age over 40) will complete the study and use the SAMS app for 6 weeks in the natural environment. We will evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, adherence, and performance of RESP-FIT + SAMS through quantitative methods to further optimize the app and related study procedures for the next phase of testing (i.e., large scale efficacy RCT).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 34
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 40 years of age or older; and
• Able to read and write English; and
• Diagnosed with mild to moderate COPD (PFT values: FEV1/FVC <0.7 and FEV1% predicted < 50% - within the past 6 months); and
• Dyspnea score of greater than "2" on the Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) questionnaire.

Exclusion Criteria:

• • Pregnant female or less than 1 year post-partum; or

  • Diagnosed cognitive deficit or observed lack of understanding during the informed consent process; or
  • Mobility impairment; or
  • Lack of 3g WiFi access in place of residence; or
  • Unwillingness to wear physical activity tracker daily, follow protocol, and/ or attend study visits.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: RESP-FIT Intervention; Intervention: IMST/EMST Training (5 breaths, 5 times a day, 5 times a week) Fitbit activity monitoring Daily symptom and training log entered into mobile application (SAMS)	Device: RESP-FIT; Inspiratory and Expiratory muscle strength training 5 times a week, plus Fitbit activity monitoring (Daily) Daily symptom and training log entered into mobile application (SAMS); Other Names: Combined IMST/EMST
Active Comparator: RESP-FIT Comparator; Active Comparator: Fitbit activity monitoring (Daily) Daily symptom and training log entered into mobile application (SAMS)	Behavioral: RESP-FIT Comparator; Fitbit activity monitoring (Daily) Daily symptom and training log entered into mobile application (SAMS); Other Names: Activity and Symptom Monitoring Only

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Intervention Feasibility (Number of Participants Who Adhered to Treatment)	Feasibility of intervention was measured by the number of participants who adhered to treatment and completed the trial (from baseline to final visit follow-up). Treatment acceptability was measured by the Mobile Application Rating Scale. The Mobile Application Rating Scale asks the participant to report the appropriateness of the app for his/her target audience ranging from little or no (1) to very high level of the acceptability measure (5).	through study completion, average of 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Self-efficacy	Change in self-efficacy (measured with the PROMIS Self-Efficacy Scale). This measures the individual's confidence in his/her ability to successfully perform specific tasks or behaviors related to one's health, with 0 being "not at all confident" to 10 being "totally confident." The PROMIS adult Self-Efficacy item banks assess self-reported current level of confidence in managing chronic conditions, including confidence in managing daily activities, managing emotions, managing medications and treatments, managing social interactions and managing symptoms.	baseline, 6 weeks
Change in Fatigue	Change in fatigue (measured with the PROMIS v1.0 Fatigue Scale). The PROMIS Fatigue item banks assess a range of self-reported symptoms, from mild subjective feelings of tiredness to an overwhelming, debilitating, and sustained sense of exhaustion that likely decreases one's ability to execute daily activities and function normally in family or social roles. Fatigue is divided into the experience of fatigue (frequency, duration, and intensity) and the impact of fatigue on physical, mental, and social activities. A higher PROMIS T-score represents more of the concept being measured. For negatively-worded concepts like fatigue, a T-score of 60 is one SD worse than average.	baseline, 6 weeks
Dyspnea	Change in difficulty breathing (measured with the PROMIS v1.0 Dyspnea). Participant can select from 5 items evaluating how shortness of breath over the past 7 days affected ability to do various activities (Getting dressed, walking stairs, household chores, or walking fast pace) ranging from "I did not do this," "no difficulty," "a little difficulty," "some difficulty," and "much difficulty." A score of 50 is the average for the general population with a standard deviation of 10 as calibration testing was performed on a large sample of the general population. The dyspnea instruments were calibrated on a sample of adults with COPD, so a score of 50 is the average for people with COPD. For the adult PROMIS Dyspnea Severity 10a short form, a raw score of 10 converts to a T-score of 48.8 with a standard error (SE) of 2.0, for an average dyspnea rating. The T-score can range from 29.7-76.7. A higher score represents more dyspnea being measured.	baseline, 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sarah Miller, PhD, RN, Medical University of South Carolina

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 18, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 13, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): January 13, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 26, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 29, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 11, 2026
• Last Verified: September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Exercise
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro00071706

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

As a condition of this National Institutes of Nursing Research (NINR) award, de-identified patient data will be shared by the researchers with the NINR and stored electronically on an NIH password protected secure server (https://cdrns.nih.gov/). The purpose of sharing this information is to build a NINR repository of data using Common Data Elements (CDE) for future research purposes among the general scientific community and for public health benefit.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No