The efficient use of smartphone apps to improve the level of asthma knowledge

Using a Mobile Application to Promote Patient Education for Patients With Liver Cirrhosis

Patient education and self-management are essential for patients with liver cirrhosis. Based on Fisher and Fisher's Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills model, a Cirrhosis Care App was developed to support the education and self-management of these patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of the application, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with patients having liver cirrhosis who were being followed up in the outpatient area of ​​a medical center in Taiwan. The experimental group used the app for 1 month, whereas a control group continued to receive conventional patient education. A pretest and posttest questionnaire was used to evaluate the app's effectiveness in improving the knowledge and practice of self-care. In addition, a questionnaire was developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model to understand satisfaction with the app. Results showed that following the implementation of the Cirrhosis Care App, patients' self-care knowledge and ability to promote self-care practice improved. User satisfaction with the app was measured and reflected in its frequency of use. This study confirmed that the Cirrhosis Care App, based on the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skills model, can improve patient knowledge and self-care practice and be actively promoted to benefit patients with cirrhosis.

Promoting knowledge of metered dose inhaler (MDI) usage among pharmacy professional students through a mobile app

INTRODUCTION

Efficient asthma management necessitates optimal usage of metered-dose inhalers (MDIs). As future health professionals, pharmacy students are pivotal in disseminating accurate methodologies for MDI usage. Despite having hands-on experience, there is room to enhance their comprehension, highlighting the need for prompt patient educational interventions.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile app-assisted educational method in improving pharmacy students' understanding of MDI usage.

METHODS

A pre-experimental study was conducted from March to August 2021 with 45 participants enrolled in the Pharmacist Professional Study Program at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. Using a one-group pretest-post-test design, the study measured the app's impact on students' knowledge and MDI usage skills.

RESULTS

The intervention significantly improved students' scores on a 9-step MDI usage checklist, with increases ranging from 0.10 to 0.50 across verbal and motor components. A Mann-Whitney U test validated these findings, showing a statistically significant p-value of 0.001.

CONCLUSION

The mobile app-assisted educational approach substantially enhanced pharmacy students' proficiency in MDI use. The significant rise in mean scores for the 9-step checklist, along with the notable p-value, supports the effectiveness of this intervention in healthcare education.

Telemonitoring in patients with asthma: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Monitoring and managing asthma using technology can help increase patient adherence and achieve better asthma control. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication compared to usual outpatient clinical evaluation in patients with asthma.

DATA SOURCES

This systematic review was conducted in 2023. Databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Google Scholar search engine, were searched from 2013 to 2022.

DATA SELECTION

The selected studies were randomized clinical trials that used telemonitoring in patients with asthma. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the JADAD scale. Data were collected using a data extraction form, and the findings were synthesized narratively. This systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA checklist.

RESULTS

Initially, 4,147 articles were found, of which 14 were included in the study. The results showed that in some cases, telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication in patients with asthma is effective, while in other studies, its effectiveness was not observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Telemonitoring using smartphones and telephone communication in patients with asthma can be considered an appropriate strategy to reduce the use of healthcare resources and improve quality of life. However, further studies are recommended to investigate the effectiveness of each of these technologies and their specific outcomes.

Clinical inertia in asthma

Despite advances in pharmaceutical treatment in recent years, a relatively high proportion of patients with asthma do not have adequate asthma control, causing chronic disability, poor quality of life, and multiple emergency department visits and hospitalizations. A multifaceted approach is needed to overcome the problems with managing asthma, and clinical inertia (CI) is a crucial concept to assist with this approach. It divides clinical inertia into three main categories, which include healthcare provider-related, patient-related, and healthcare system-related CI. The strategies to overcome these CI are complex, and the M-GAP approach, which combines a multidisciplinary approach, dissemination of guidelines, utilization of applications, and development and promotion of low-cost prescriptions, will help clinicians.

Determining the relationship between the knowledge on self-management and levels of asthma control among adult asthmatic patients: a cross-sectional study

The primary aim of asthma management is to improve the patient's quality of life and keep the symptoms under control, therefore improving the patient's daily activities. Asthmatic patients who know and understand how to control their symptoms could be able to prevent further attacks. Many previous studies have shown the role of patient knowledge regarding asthma self-management in improving asthma control. It was why this study mainly aimed to determine the relationship between patient knowledge of self-management and asthma control levels among adult asthmatic patients in the rural community. The design used analytical observation with a cross-sectional approach to collect data. It involved 100 asthmatic outpatients from two private hospitals owned by the Muhammadiyah Society in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from February to August 2022. Most participants had a low level of knowledge (66%;n=66), followed by a good level of knowledge (34%;n=34). Regarding the levels of asthma control, it could be confirmed that 61% (n=61) of study participants had uncontrolled asthma, followed by partially controlled (35%;n=35), and controlled (4%;n=4). In terms of the relationship between two variables (patient knowledge of self-management and asthma control levels), the results of Pearson Chi-Square showed a p-value of 0.001, highlighting a relationship between the patient's knowledge of self-management and levels of asthma control. This study concluded that there was a strong relationship between knowledge regarding asthma self-management and asthma control levels.