• Anne E Holland, Jennifer A Alison, Brenda M Button, and Narelle S Cox.
• Department of Physiotherapy, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. nscox@students.latrobe.edu.au
• Respir Care. 2013 Feb 1;58(2):286-90.

BackgroundProvision of healthcare from a remote site may assist patients to access important services. We aimed to establish the feasibility of monitoring an assessment of exercise capacity using telehealth technology.MethodsAdults with CF completed two 3-min step tests, monitored in-person or remotely via videoconferencing, in randomized order. Measurements were physiological responses to exercise, system usability, ease of clinician interaction, metronome acoustics, and participant comfort.ResultsTen adults (5 male), mean ± SD age 32 ± 7 years, and FEV1 55.4% of predicted (range 38-90% of predicted), completed both tests. Participants reported good system usability, with a mean (95% CI) System Usability Scale score of 85.63 out of 100 (79.8-91.5). Metronome acoustics were rated as significantly poorer remotely (P = .006). There were no differences in measurements of oxyhemoglobin saturation or heart rate between assessment settings.ConclusionExercise capacity assessment using the 3-min step test is feasible and accurate via remote videoconferencing in adults with CF.© 2013 Daedalus Enterprises.

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