Feasibility and acceptability of home monitoring with portable spirometry in young adults with asthma

• Published in: The Journal of asthma 2023-07, Vol.60 (7), p.1474-1479
• Main Authors: Bindler, Ross, Haverkamp, Hans C., O'Flanagan, Hannah, Whicker, Justin, Rappold, Ana G., Walden, Von, Postma, Julie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asthma; Asthma - diagnosis; Feasibility Studies; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; Respiratory Function Tests; self-management; spirometry; Spirometry - methods; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0277-0903; 1532-4303; 1532-4303
• DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2022.2160345

Self-monitoring asthma control is a key component of asthma management. Few studies have reported usability and acceptability of portable spirometry among young adults with asthma. Portable spirometry offers a practical solution to monitoring airway narrowing at home. The purpose of this paper was to determine if self-administered spirometry is feasible and acceptable in young adults with asthma and whether regular monitoring resulted in improved airway function as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ). Sixty-seven young adults (18-26 years) with self-reported asthma participated in a clinical trial during wildfire season which measured FEV 1 as an outcome measure. Data was collected at baseline, week 4, and week 8 using a portable spirometer linked to a smartphone application. A subset of intervention participants completed spirometry twice daily. Acceptability of self-administered spirometry was evaluated after the trial among participants that volunteered to submit a survey and be interviewed. At baseline, all 67 participants (100.0%) completed their scheduled spirometry readings which declined to 94.0% (n = 63) at week 4 and 86.6% (n = 58) at week 8. Daily readings were completed 83.2% of the time in the mornings and 84.3% of the time in the evenings. Mean FEV 1 values were lower than predicted values, but above the lower limit of expected. FEV 1 remained steady throughout the study period. Over two-thirds of participants used the notes feature in the application and described symptoms, asthma triggers, mitigating actions and test-taking issues. Young adults in our sample were highly compliant with regular, self-administered spirometry.