Applying Interactive Mobile Health to Asthma Care in Teens (AIM2ACT)
Condition: Asthma
MeSH terms: Asthma
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aims of this application are to develop and test AIM2ACT, a mobile health (mHealth) tool,
      delivered via smartphones, that fosters helpful caregiver support as early adolescents (ages
      12-15) with persistent asthma develop and master asthma self-management behaviors. To
      facilitate helpful caregiver support, AIM2ACT uses mHealth technology to determine tailored
      intervention targets for each family. AIM2ACT then helps caregiver/adolescent dyads set
      asthma management goals by automatically guiding families through a structured process that
      includes the supportive behavioral management strategies of goal setting, contingency
      management, and problem solving communication. Skills-training videos for adolescents and
      caregivers provide guidance on how to complete each collaborative asthma management
      component.

      AIM2ACT will be developed through feedback from an advisory board of adolescent-caregiver
      dyads from the target user population and a pediatric pulmonologist. Following advisory board
      feedback, the investigators will conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial of AIM2ACT with
      50 early adolescents with poorly controlled asthma, ages 12-15 years, and a caregiver.
      Families will be randomly assigned to receive AIM2ACT or a self-guided condition for a 4
      month intervention period. Participants in the self-guided condition will be given general
      information on supportive behavioral management techniques they can use to target improvement
      in asthma self-management behaviors. Outcomes include whether participants prefer AIM2ACT or
      the self-guided condition. Additionally, AIM2ACT and the self-guided condition will be
      compared to see if there are differences in changes in family asthma management (primary
      outcome), lung function, asthma control, asthma-related quality of life, and self-efficacy
      for asthma management. Data will be collected before participants are assigned to AIM2ACT or
      the self-guided control, post-treatment, and 4 month follow-up time points.
    

Detailed description: 
      As a participant in the study the following will take place:

      Questionnaires will be filled out which will include medical history, including asthma
      symptoms and control, and questions related to quality of life. In addition, an interview
      will be completed which assesses the participants asthma management.

      During this visit a brief training on how to complete lung function testing with a portable
      device will be demonstrated. The participant will breathe into twice per day for 14 days and
      then the device will be collected at the end of the 14 day period.

      Randomization A computer will randomly chose one of the two programs; Program A or Program B.
      Random assignment is like rolling a dice to decide which group a person is assigned to. Both
      Program A and B are 4 months in length.

      Program A the participant will answer questions about asthma management for a one-week period
      on a smartphone program. A smartphone can be provided for the duration of the study. After
      the one-week period, a report will be received on the smartphone about areas of asthma
      management that are going well and areas that may be in need of improvement. Next, brief
      meetings with study personnel to help determine things that will help improve asthma
      management. This information will be entered into a smartphone program. The participant will
      continue to use the smartphone program for a four month period.

      Program B the participant answer questions about asthma for a one-week period on a paper and
      pencil diary. The participant will receive a paper copy of feedback from study personnel
      related to areas of asthma management that are going well and areas that may be in need of
      improvement. The participant will then be given information on techniques they can use to
      target identified areas for improvement. The participant will be encouraged to use these
      strategies to for a 4 month period.
    

Intervention name(s): AIM2ACT; Self-guided
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): AIM2ACT is a mobile health tool that is designed to facilitate collaborative asthma management between early adolescents and their caregivers.; Paper feedback and collaborative asthma management strategies are provided to early adolescents and caregivers.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Adolescent