Aim:Evaluation of functional capacity inpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is performedface-to-face, beforethe patient enters a pulmonary rehabilitation program. The purpose of thisresearch was to investigate whether computer technology can be applied in the assessment of patients with COPD in specific functional tests applied in the clinical field, producing reliable results such as those in face-to-face assessment.

Methods:This study evaluated a convenience sample of 20 patients with stable COPD, between the ages of 57-77 years (mean: 64.45 ± 5.74 years), witha mean body mass index of 29.1 ± 4 Kg/m² and mean forced expiratory volume in the first second 63.5 ± 10.1%.Patients were assessed in three functional tests: the 2-minutewalk test (2MWT), the 3-minutestep test (3MST), and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), administered either remotely using Skype software,withthe usual face-to-face assessment.

Results:A comparison of face-to-face assessment and teleassessment revealed a moderate to excellent correlation (Pearson’sr) among the evaluated parameters: a) SPPB total score (r=0.88, p<0.05);b) heart rate at the end of 2MWT (r=0.84, p<0.05); c) total distance of 2MWT (r=0.97, p<0.05);and d) heart rate at the end of 3MST (r=0.92, p>0.05).

Conclusions:Computer technology can be successfully applied for the remote evaluation of patients with mild and severe COPD with the three functional tests used in the present study, producing results similar to those of face-to-face assessment.