Project Description:
Asthma is a common, chronic medical condition affecting about 1 in 12 children living in the United Stated1. Children who learn adequate management of their asthma gain enhanced quality of life and a lower risk of morbidity and mortality while poorly managed asthma presents challenges to children's well-being and life-expectancy 2. Successful medical management of asthma involves children, under the direction of their caregivers, carrying out a set of instructions without direct oversight from physicians. Digital inhaler health systems use electromechanical sensors and microelectronics to monitor inhaler actuation as well as measurements of lung health. These devices can be linked to a mobile application that communicates with the patient, a cloud server, and a portal for the physician to see dashboard data to help monitor asthma symptoms. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), such as autism, are often excluded from trials of technology to improve health, which further exacerbates health disparities in this population. We propose to improve asthma management for adolescents with IDD through implementation of: 1) the use of a digital inhaler (CapMedic®) that can train an individual to use the proper technique in administering medication through a metered dose inhaler for asthma management; and 2) monitor lung function using the digital inhaler and give direct feedback to the patient and parent, as well as 3) evaluate usability and acceptability of this device in the IDD population. We plan recruit 34 individuals with IDD who have mild to moderate persistent asthma, train them in clinic to use the digital inhaler, and monitor their use of the inhaler, markers of health including urgent care and ED visits, and acceptability and usability based on surveys to patients and their parents/guardians over a 3 month period. We will conduct retrospective chart reviews of enrolled individuals to compare markers of health in the 6 months prior to using the digital inhaler.
