Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions in children and adults with a prevalence of over 8% in U.S. children and 7% in adults. This translates to more than 7 million children in the U.S. with asthma and 26 million total. In 2007, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute released the Expert Panel Report-3 for the management of asthma. These guidelines are still in effect with minor updates over the years. More recent guidelines are available from the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Both guidelines have similar recommendations including the use of asthma action plans for example, though the GINA guidelines are more up to date with the current best evidence.
Both guidelines recommend the use of asthma action plans and include sample versions. Similarly, both recommend providers ensure proper inhaler use. Up to 30% of emergency room visits are due to improper inhaler use. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has recently released an app to educate parents and children on these critical asthma topics. Their new app called CHANGE Asthma includes links to YouTube videos describing the proper inhaler use, as well as educational games utilizing virtual reality. The games emphasize how to use an inhaler, identifying the severity of an asthma attack, and need for a rescue inhaler.
The app includes resources from reputable organizations/hospitals -- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The resources included in the app are only in English and cover evidence-based topics, including proper inhaler use, asthma action plans, and recognition of asthma symptoms/rescue inhaler use. There are no links to national guidelines such as GINA or NHLBI.
Likes
- High-quality patient education materials from reputable sources
- Videos well-made with helpful materials
- Virtual reality game on phone works well
- Available for Android
Dislikes
- Interface for asthma action plan is buggy
- Font is far too small for the screen
- Videos not downloaded to device and must link out to YouTube
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
This post originally appeared on iMedicalApps.com.