Real-world evaluation of a mobile health application in children with asthma.

BACKGROUND: Mobile health applications for asthma are increasingly being developed. However, there are no published randomized controlled trials evaluating efficacy in decreasing exacerbations.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a mobile asthma application for asthma-related urgent health care usage.

METHODS: We conducted a 6-month prospective randomized controlled trial for patients (6 months-21 years old) with persistent asthma presenting with an asthma exacerbation to the emergency department of a pediatric academic medical center. Participants were randomized to AsthmaCare (application providing medication and trigger reminders and treatment plan) or the control (online asthma information). Primary outcome measures were comparison of emergency department and urgent care visits and hospitalizations 6 months before and after randomization.

RESULTS: AsthmaCare participants (n = 98) were slightly older (7.84 vs 6.24 years; P = .02) than controls (n = 95) but similar for sex (55% vs 62% boys), race (83% vs 77% African American), and insurer (89% vs 98% Medicaid). The 2 groups were similar in having more than 2 comorbidities (34% vs 32%) and receiving National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute step 3 treatment or higher (69% vs 57%). There was no significant decrease in emergency department or urgent care visits or hospitalizations between the intervention and control groups. AsthmaCare participants were more likely to report improvement in asthma management 6 months after study enrollment (79% vs 64%; P = .06).

CONCLUSION: This randomized controlled trial did not demonstrate a significant decrease in asthma-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations among children who used a mobile health application.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier NCT02333630.