Implementation of ACT Through Facebook for Teenagers With Asthma
Condition: Asthma
MeSH terms: Asthma
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The investigators hypothesize that at the end of the 12-month trial, teenagers regularly
      self-monitoring their asthma control with ACT administered through Facebook will have
      improved ACT scores as compared with teenagers receiving usual care.
    

Detailed description: 
      The investigators propose to administer the Asthma Control Test (ACT), a clinically validated
      and reliable measure of asthma control, to a pediatric pulmonary patient population, using
      novel channels to improve usage of the tool and health outcomes. The investigators will
      administer ACT to patients using Facebook to monitor asthma control and notify clinicians
      when there is deterioration of control.

      The goal is to improve health outcomes in patients with asthma by measuring adherence to the
      use of monitoring tool, follow-up visits to their specialist, and hospitalization/Emergency
      Department (ED) visits. To achieve this, the investigators will use a novel technology
      platform that is simple, secure, private and easily scalable to other relevant sites and
      groups, without the need for additional investment. Currently, patients take the ACT survey
      only during their scheduled office appointments. The aim of the study is to increase the use
      of ACT to monitor patients who see a pediatric pulmonologist to promote regular
      self-monitoring.

      ACT is a short symptom-based survey consisting of 5 questions, validated in English and
      Spanish. Participants will receive reminders on Facebook every month to login to the study
      website to complete the ACT survey therefore allowing patients to easily take the survey on a
      regular basis, and receive reminders and educational content in the media spaces they already
      inhabit. Participants would receive reminders and links in the same way they would receive
      other reminders or notifications from Facebook. The system will rate asthma control and send
      patients and their specialist notification of status if it reaches critical levels, defined
      as a score of 14 or lower on the ACT survey. This will be a system generated notification,
      based on a protocol developed in conjunction with the physicians at the Massachusetts General
      Hospital (MGH) pediatric pulmonary department.

      The intervention will study the efficacy of electronic social networks in engaging teenagers
      in their asthma control over time, using a simple but effective symptom-based survey tool.
      Both patients and providers would receive notifications in case of deteriorating control,
      which could result in early intervention and lead to better clinical outcomes by prompting
      timely intervention by the clinician. The Center for Connected Health (CCH) will work with
      the MGH Department of Pulmonology, as well as the Pediatric Asthma group at Partners
      Community HealthCare Inc. (PCHI) to enroll ambulatory teenagers with asthma in the research
      study for one year.

      120 participants will be enrolled and randomly assigned to one of two groups.
    

Intervention name(s): Facebook group
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Facebook will be used to remind participants to take the ACT survey once every month for 12 months.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Asthma; Facebook; teenagers; ACT