There are very few surveys devoted to the prevalence of asthma and COPD in the general population. The Motorola Health System has been developed to make such surveys easier.

OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to assess the acceptability and efficacy of the Motorola Health system in collecting health data at home in the context of an epidemiological study of respiratory health. The secondary objective was to determine whether a home-based survey would lead to a higher participation rate than a hospital-based survey.

METHODS: Four hundred and eighty-three individuals were selected from the electoral rolls of the 15th district of Marseille and randomly divided into two groups: home-based and hospital-based. The protocol included a questionnaire, several measurements: height, weight, blood pressure, spirometry and pulse oxymetry, and blood sampling. All data were transferred to a portable computer.

RESULTS: Data acquisition and transfer worked well. Among the 232 subjects from the home-based survey, 62 (26.7%) participated, whereas only 36 (14.3%) of the 251 subjects from the hospital-based group did so (P<0.001). In an additional telephone survey, participants (13.6%) and non-participants (11.0%) had the same (P<0.9) prevalence of asthma.

CONCLUSION: The Motorola Health System allowed accurate data acquisition and transfer in the context of an epidemiological survey of respiratory health. A home-based survey gave a higher participation rate than a hospital-based one.