Telemonitoring in asthma control: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: Telemonitoring seems to be a useful tool for patients’ management. The aim of our project was to test the applicability and potential effects of a 12-month telemonitoring of patients with asthma supported by information and communication technologies. Methods: We included 100 patients with asthma followed in the outpatient pulmonary clinic in a randomized controlled clinical trial. The patients’ data were collected by study questionnaires and lung function tests at the inclusion and at the end of interventional period. In the interventional group, asthma control test (ACT) and peak expiratory flow measurements (PEF) were stimulated to be regularly reported by Short Message Service (SMS). As a response to reported values, the patients automatically received a preformed text or a call from a study nurse in case of detected predefined critical values. Results: The compliance of reporting PEF and ACT values was higher than 80% in 96% of patients. Although we did not detect significant differences in ACT score improvement between the two study groups, we found more prominent improvement of ACT score in the subgroup of patients with two or more exacerbations prior to inclusion in the interventional group, compared to the control group. 40 (78%) patients in the interventional group listed at least one positive effect of telemonitoring on management of asthma. Conclusions: The developed program for home monitoring of patients with asthma was applicable and offered the patients support in managing their disease. Further studies with more selected patients are needed to confirm its usefulness in improving asthma control.

Keywords:

• Home monitoring
• exacerbation
• asthma control test
• peak expiratory flow
• communication technologies

Acknowledgements

This investigator initiated trial was supported by GlaxoSmithKline and conducted in collaboration with web services company Activis. We thank for a helpful contribution in the study to Barbara Stalc, Karmen Perko, Nissera Bajrovic, MD, Katja Adamic, MD, Peter Kopac, MD, Mate Bestek and Julij Selb, MD, PhD.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

*AE I- asthma exacerbation intervention group, AE C- asthma exacerbation control group. (Change in AE rate = AE number per year prior to study inclusion – AE number per year during study year).