Improving asthma control assessment and outcomes in children with asthma using an artificial intelligence digital tool: a prospective multicentre cohort study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Achieving good asthma control is a goal of asthma management. In children, asthma control and quality-of-life assessments include determining the presence of wheeze. However, wheeze is unreliably reported with high disagreement (>50%) between parental and physician detection of wheeze. Objectively defining wheeze using WheezeScan™ (a user-friendly, artificial intelligence-based device) could improve assessment of asthma control and hence management. Objective: Our primary aim is to determine whether adding WheezeScan™ to routine clinical care improves parental asthma control assessment (ACA) in children (aged 4-11 years). Our secondary aims are to examine the impact of WheezeScan™ upon patient-reported outcomes (PROs), the parent asthma management self-efficacy scale (PAMS), healthcare costs and ease of WheezeScan™ use. The primary hypothesis is that using WheezeScan™ alters the ACA group. Methods: Our multicentre prospective cohort study involves 125 children with specialist-confirmed asthma. Over 5 weeks, parents/caregivers use the WheezeScan™ twice-daily at home and whenever wheezing is suspected. After the first week of using the WheezeScan™, asthma medications may be adjusted based upon the child's asthma control score and WheezeScan™ data. Study outcomes are collected at baseline, week 1 and week 5. Our primary end-point is the proportion of children whose assessment of asthma control changed between week 1 and baseline, based upon parental assessments using WheezeScan™ data. Secondary outcomes are PROs (asthma-related quality of life), PAMS, healthcare costs and WheezeScan™ ease of use. Conclusions: This protocol describes our study to determine whether using digital technology to accurately identify wheeze in children with asthma improves their asthma assessment and asthma-related PROs, including PAMS and healthcare costs.
Source: ERJ Open Research
Authors: Anne B. Chang, Stephanie T. Yerkovich, Steven M. McPhail, Hiran Selvadurai, Vikas Goyal, Shane George, Gabrielle B. McCallum, Peter S. Morris, Hannah O'Farrell, Lesley A. Versteegh, Jonathan Grigg, Margaret S. McElrea, Sophie Worley, Leanne Elliot-Holmes, Terase Yerkovich, Joanna Williams, Keith Grimwood, Julie M. Marchant
Institutions: Queensland University of Technology, Charles Darwin University, Menzies School of Health Research, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Gold Coast Hospital, Griffith University, National Health and Medical Research Council, Queen Mary University of London, Blizard Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $808
Awards: Improving children’s lung health especially for First Nations children through feasible interventions, complemented by novel discovery science, G3426129705, Centre of Research Excellence in preventing and managing bronchiectasis, especially in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, Improving the understanding and management of chronic wet cough and its associations in children
OpenAlex ID: W4417252115