Telemonitoring in patients with asthma: a systematic review

Abstract

Background

Monitoring and managing asthma using technology can help increase patient adherence and achieve better asthma control. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication compared to usual outpatient clinical evaluation in patients with asthma.

Data sources

This systematic review was conducted in 2023. Databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Google Scholar search engine, were searched from 2013 to 2022.

Data selection

The selected studies were randomized clinical trials that used telemonitoring in patients with asthma. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the JADAD scale. Data were collected using a data extraction form, and the findings were synthesized narratively. This systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA checklist.

Results

Initially, 4,147 articles were found, of which 14 were included in the study. The results showed that in some cases, telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication in patients with asthma is effective, while in other studies, its effectiveness was not observed.

Conclusions

Telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication in patients with asthma can be considered an appropriate strategy to reduce the use of healthcare resources and improve quality of life. However, further studies are recommended to investigate the effectiveness of each of these technologies and their specific outcomes.

Keywords:

• Telemonitoring
• asthma
• smartphones
• telephone communication

Declaration of interest

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

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Telemedicine Research Center affiliated to National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.