Pilot study of asthmawin mobile iphone app in the management of asthma

ABSTRACT: RATIONALE: AsthmaWin is an iPhone app, developed by CooperSoft Inc. that incorporates a physician - generated asthma action plan & involves daily recording of: (a) peak flow measurements, (b) medication usage, documented with a self-photo, (c) daily symptoms with an automatic reminder to take medications and that can reward completion of data, is intended to enhance patient physician communication. The purpose of the pilot project was to examine whether the use of this app would improve medication adherence & improve asthma self-management as measured by Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurements. METHODS: Forty eight asthmatics, predominantly African American, 13-60 years old were recruited from the Howard University Faculty Practice Plan. After 2 weeks of baseline paper recording 33 patients were randomized to use the app or continue paper journaling for 12 weeks. RESULTS: Reported controller medication usage was 86% among app users and 90% in the paper group. ACT scores in the app group improved by a mean of 3.8 points and by 2.4 points in the paper group. PEFRs improved an average of 9.09% in the app group and 7.82% in the paper group. CONCLUSIONS: Documented daily use of the Asthma Action plan leads to improvement in ACTs. PEFRs and medication adherence. Focus groups indicated patient willingness to use the app on an ongoing basis to assist in asthma management and an unwillingness to continue paper journaling. Patients randomized to paper were more likely to fail study appointments.