Skip to main content

BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Ethical Digital Health
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2024.1469860
This article is part of the Research Topic The Environmental Impact of Digital Health View all articles

Remote monitoring and teleconsultations can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining quality of care in cystic fibrosis

Provisionally accepted
Martinus C. Oppelaar Martinus C. Oppelaar 1*Michiel A. Bannier Michiel A. Bannier 2Monique H. Reijers Monique H. Reijers 3Hester van der Vaart Hester van der Vaart 4Renske van der Meer Renske van der Meer 5Josje Altenburg Josje Altenburg 6Lennart Conemans Lennart Conemans 7,8Bart L. Rottier Bart L. Rottier 10,9Marianne Nuijsink Marianne Nuijsink 11Lara S. van den Wijngaart Lara S. van den Wijngaart 1Peter J. Merkus Peter J. Merkus 1Jolt Roukema Jolt Roukema 1
  • 1 Radboud university medical center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • 2 Maastricht University Medical Centre+, MosaKids Children’s Hospital, Department of Paediatric Pulmonology,, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • 3 Radboud university medical center, Department of Pulmonology, Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • 4 Department of Pulmonary Diseases, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • 5 Department of Pulmonology, Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
  • 6 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 7 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • 8 Division of Respiratory & Age-related Health, Department of Respiratory Medicine, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht, Netherlands
  • 9 University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology, Beatrix Children's Hospital, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
  • 10 University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), Groningen, Netherlands
  • 11 Haga Teaching Hospital, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Remote care effectiveness and climate change co-benefits should be addressed simultaneously to incentivize political action. Objectives: To assess the changes in healthcare consumption, lung function and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch cystic fibrosis (CF) care. Design: Retrospective multicentre observational study in five Dutch CF centres. Methods: Eighty-one participants were included. Healthcare consumption was described using the COVID-19 Stringency Index (2019-2022). Travel related GHG emissions were calculated for every clinic visit. Changes in percentage predicted Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (ppFEV1) were assessed using a paired-samples T-test. Results: Healthcare consumption patterns followed COVID-19 public health measure stringency but returned back to the ‘old normal’. Emission of 5.450,3 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents were avoided while quality of care was relatively preserved. ppFEV1 declined as expected (ΔMeans 3.69%, 95%CI 2.11-5.28). Conclusion: Remote monitoring of lung function and symptoms and teleconsultations in CF can reduce GHG emissions while maintaining quality of care. As health sectors constitute a large share of national climate change footprints, digital health can partly alleviate this burden by reducing private travel.

    Keywords: Telemonitoring, Cystic Fibrosis, Pediatrics, Spirometry, telehealth, climate co-benefits

    Received: 24 Jul 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Oppelaar, Bannier, Reijers, van der Vaart, van der Meer, Altenburg, Conemans, Rottier, Nuijsink, van den Wijngaart, Merkus and Roukema. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Martinus C. Oppelaar, Radboud university medical center, Amalia Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, Nijmegen, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.