Impact of a mobile-app assisted self-management educational intervention on the scores of asthma control test (ACT) questionnaire among young asthmatic patients

Abstract

Background: Mobile phone apps have reached almost all sectors of everyday modern human life, including health promotion and patient education intervention. Regarding asthma self-management programs, apps are considered to be a potential learning medium for patients with asthma, especially young patients, due to their effectiveness in improving patients’ knowledge and, consequently, the level of asthma control. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the AsmaDroid® mobile app, as compared with conventional educational methods, as a self-management educational intervention tool for improving asthma control among young patients. Methods: To determine the app’s effectiveness, the study involved 140 participants from various backgrounds and applied a quasi-experimental method using a two-group pretest and posttest with a control group design. Specifically, the treatment groups received the AsmaDroid® app as a learning medium, while the control groups used conventional methods (e.g., books, posters, videos, and social media). Before and after a 4-week intervention period, all the participants of both groups were asked to complete the Asthma Control Test (ACT) questionnaire. Results: The results of this study revealed a significant difference of +1.4 (p < 0.0001) in the pretest and posttest scores of the ACT questionnaire from the intervention group, while no difference was found in the control group. Conclusions: Therefore, this study concluded that mobile app-assisted self-management educational intervention significantly improved the scores of the ACT questionnaire among young asthmatic patients.