Adolescent, Caregiver, and Provider Preferences for an Asthma Self-Management App

Background: Although the number of asthma self-management applications (apps) has increased in recent years; to our knowledge, no asthma self-management app has been developed specifically to meet the needs of adolescents. Objective: To present formative data from adolescents, their caregivers, and medical providers regarding their preferences for a mobile asthma self-management app. We will present data regarding desired app design, features, and content. Methods: We recruited a convenience sample of adolescents with persistent asthma (n=20), their caregivers (n=20), and health care providers (n=6) from two pediatric practices in an urban area of North Carolina. To be eligible, adolescents had to be 12-16 years of age, have moderate to severe persistent asthma, speak and read English, own a mobile device, and be present with an English-speaking adult caregiver. Each participant was given an iPod Touch and asked to critique two self-management apps [AsthmaMD (adult-focused) and iAsthma in Control (child-focused)] during an in-person interview after a regularly-scheduled clinic visit and again, via phone interview, after one week of app use. Provider reactions to apps were collected during a 30-minute in-person interview. Using semi-structured interviews and surveys, we asked participants to identify the app features they found most useful and describe additional features that could help adolescents better manage their asthma. Additionally, participants rated the usefulness of specific features of the apps on a scale ranging from 1 (not at all useful) to 5 (very useful). Ease of use for each app was also assessed by adolescents and caregivers on a scale of 1 (very easy) to 5 (very difficult). Eighty percent of participants completed the follow-up phone interviews. Each digitally recorded, transcribed interview was imported into MAXQDA, coded, and analyzed. Demographic and perceived usefulness data were analyzed using SPSS version 11.0. Results: Adolescents were primarily Black (47%) and male (60%). Fifty-seven percent of adolescents, 50% of caregivers, and 50% of providers preferred iAsthma in Control, and both adolescents and caregivers found iAsthma easier to use. Adolescents ranked the personalized charting function and asthma self-check features as most useful, caregivers ranked the symptom diary and the ability to send the doctor your report most useful, and providers ranked the appointment reminder feature most useful. The peak flow monitoring feature was ranked lowest among adolescents, caregivers, and providers. Conclusions: Although participants agreed that symptom tracking features would be useful in an asthma self-management app, preferences for user interface and additional self-management features varied among adolescents, caregivers, and providers. Although our study sample was diverse, our results may not generalize to adolescents and providers in other clinical settings. App developers should be aware of the varied preferences of adolescents and members of their social support network (i.e. providers and caregivers) when developing asthma self-management apps. []