The Digital Life Using technology to improve asthma and respiratory management By Dr Amy Chan PhD, BPharm(Hons), MPS, RegPharmNZ Senior Clinical Research Fellow (University of Auckland) and Lead Pharmacist – Clinical Research (Auckland DHB) ‘Beep beep beep’. The familiar yet annoying sound of my phone alarm going off in the morning for work cuts through my sleep. Bleary-eyed, I sleepily click it off as I get ready for another day at work. Rain – low 17 degrees, high 26, windy conditions expected from 14:00 – 20:00. High pollen counts expected, likely to trigger asthma. High risk of asthma worsening. Click to review plan. A push notification pops up on my phone. I click to review my plan on my asthma management app, which has helpfully checked the weather and my triggers for me for today. It reminds me to take my preventer before I head out to work, and asks if I want to book an appointment for my asthma review with my GP in two weeks. I push yes to send off the appointment request and throw in a request for a repeat prescription of my inhalers – something I had been meaning to do for weeks but had been slipping down my to-do list. Thank you phone, what would I do without you?
Digital technology use – the current landscape This seamless integration of digital health apps and technologies into our daily lives may have seemed impossible in the past – yet now, in 2022, it is very much a tangible reality. I still recall the first mobile phone I had in high school – a phone the size of a cordless phone complete with antennae. Other than playing ‘snake’ and using it for the odd text or two (due to the extortionate costs of SMS messages back then), it served very little purpose even for telecommunications, let alone for management of health. Fast forward two decades, and smartphones and smart devices such as watches are one of the most commonly used and owned pieces of technology. Global data estimates that the current number of smartphone users in the world is over 6.6 billion, meaning at least 84% of the
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world’s population own a smartphone. Even in lowmiddle income countries, mobile phone penetration has surpassed 90% in recent years, though internet connectivity still lags. This has provided unique opportunities to revolutionise the way healthcare is being delivered; the costs of mobile technologies are becoming increasingly affordable, enabling most people around the world to benefit. Mobile phones are also user friendly and generally do not need much literacy or technological proficiency to use. In New Zealand, the often quoted ‘digital divide’ between Māori and non-Māori is closing, at least when it comes to owning or having access to a mobile phone: data from Te Puni Kōkiri shows equivalent rates between Māori and non-Māori, with high usage particularly in young Māori. A survey from 2015 reports 91% of New Zealanders use their smartphone every day, and 86% use their smartphone to look for reference information, with the most common use of apps being for referencing or information (79% of respondents). These data highlight the great potential for using common digital devices such as smartphones to manage our health, both as a country and globally for humanity. If anything, the coronavirus pandemic has only served to accelerate the development of digital health technologies and heighten the importance of using technology in our lives – not only for communication, but for health management and accessing information.
Technology innovations in respiratory health There are a variety of digital technologies that have been developed for respiratory health. Apps have been around since the early 2000s, with health apps becoming commonplace thereafter. Apps for respiratory health can serve a range of functions: • informing (providing information); • instructing (providing instructions to the user); • recording (capturing user-entered data); • displaying (graphically showing data); • guiding (providing guidance based on user-entered information such as recommending treatment or medical care); • reminding (alerts or reminders to the user); and • communication (such as communication with a with a healthcare provider or links to support networks).
