The Study is Enrolling Kids From 8 to 17 Years Old. The BreathSmart Device Attaches to the Inhaler to Measure Adherence.

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Asthma

Interventions: Other: Standard of Care
Device: BreatheSmart System

Registration Number: NCT03734861

Lead Sponsor: Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Brief Summary: Non-adherence to controller medication is a common problem in children with Asthma, resulting in overuse of reliever medication, increased asthma symptoms, more frequent Asthma attacks, and increased emergency room visits and hospital admissions. Additionally, current absence of a gold standard to measure adherence forces clinicians and researchers to rely on patient-self report, which is notoriously inaccurate, to support clinical decision making. Many young patients suffer from both intentional and non-intentional non-adherence, thus an appropriate intervention must address both types. Current studies using electronic monitoring devices (EMDs) primarily focus on non-intentional non-adherence through reminder systems and thus are limited in their ability to engage patients for long-term behavior change.

This trial addresses an important knowledge gap by evaluating whether EMDs with a combination of reminder system and patient education can prove to be effective in increasing adherence rates and can be used in clinical practice to achieve better asthma control and outcomes through improved patient and clinician engagement.

Detailed Description: This is a prospective, randomized, controlled study of children with persistent asthma who are managed on daily inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). 75 children will be randomized 2:1 into one of two arms:

* 50 children will be randomized to BreatheSmart, comprised of:

* BreatheSmart mobile application that tracks medication usage and sends real time reminders

* HeroTracker sensor that counts dosage and monitors real-time medication adherence

* CoheroConnect provider portal that allows the Investigator to monitor real-time adherence and to provide targeted outreach to children with low adherence (intervention arm)

* 25 children will be randomized to "standard of care"(control arm). These patients are reminded to adhere to the prescribed standard of care therapy provided by their clinician during their clinical encounters and when the family calls to report an illness.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 75

Inclusion Criteria

Age 8 to 17
Diagnosis of persistent asthma
Prescribed an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) for at least one month prior to enrollment
Use of a pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) compatible with the Cohero mHealth Herotracker (See Appendix)
Parent/child possess a compatible smartphone (iOS 8.0 or higher)
English or Spanish speaking

Exclusion Criteria

Presence of another chronic lung disease or condition such as cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, chronic lung disease of prematurity, recurrent aspiration, or presence of tracheostomy
Presence of other chronic medical condition such as congenital heart disease or immunodeficiency
Presence of other comorbidities that, in the opinion of the investigator, will interfere with collection of study procedures, or limits life expectancy to < 1 year
Currently pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the trial period

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Standard of Care	Standard of Care	These patients are reminded to adhere to the prescribed standard of care therapy provided by their clinician during their clinical encounters and when the family calls to report an illness.
BreatheSmart System	BreatheSmart System	* BreatheSmart mobile application that tracks medication usage and sends real time reminders * HeroTracker sensor that counts dosage and monitors real-time medication adherence * CoheroConnect provider portal that allows the Investigator to monitor real-time adherence and to provide targeted outreach to children with low adherence (intervention arm)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Proportion of Days Covered (PDC)	6 months post start of intervention	Medication adherence among children using BreatheSmart with feedback (intervention) compared to control group (standard of care) at 6 months. The primary outcome was medication adherence as measured using pharmacy refill. Medication adherence as measured by pharmacy refills was calculated using proportion of days covered (PDC), a validated method of calculating adherence, defined as a ratio of the sum of unique days supplied based on refills over the total number of days in the assessed period.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Asthma Control Test	6 months post start of intervention	The Asthma control Test (ACT) assess a patient's level of asthma control based on responses to 5 symptom-related questions over the past 4 weeks. Respondents must select a number on a 5-point likert scale (1-5) for each item. The response to each question is summed, ranging from 5-25. Scores of 19 or less indicate poorly controlled asthma. Higher scores mean better asthma control.
FEV1% Predicted	Baseline to 6 months	The percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were evaluated at baseline, 3-months, and 6-months.
Number of Participants With Visits to ER for Asthma	Baseline to 6 months post start of intervention	The overall number of participant-reported provider visits for asthma healthcare utilization (e.g. number of self-reported exacerbations leading to ER visits)
Number of Missed Days of School	Last 30 days from baseline visit and last 30 days from 6-month follow-up visit	Average number of days missed from school in the past 30 days
Changes in Medication Adherence and Lung Function	Baseline to 6 months post start of intervention	The correlation between changes in medication adherence and changes in FEV1 percent predicted. FEV1 is forced expiratory volume in 1 second is the maximum amount of air that a subject can forcibly expel during the first second following maximal inhalation. FEV1 can be useful to categorize the severity of asthma. Expressing FEV1 as a percentage of the predicted value in a patient is means by which to express this severity.