Mobile Health for Asthma

Asthma is a highly prevalent disease associated with significant individual and health system-level burdens. Mobile health (mHealth) apps and connected mobile digital devices, all of which are in the category of mHealth, may have the potential to address many of the important care gaps in asthma. In this narrative review, we document the current state of asthma mHealth for adults, discuss the main challenges to widespread asthma mHealth adoption, and explore future possibilities for asthma mHealth. The number of asthma mHealth options is growing, classified into four discrete categories based on technology type: standalone apps, digital inhalers, digital spirometers, and other mHealth devices used in asthma care. Evidence for asthma mHealth effectiveness is emerging, but systematic assessment is challenging because of technological heterogeneity. To attain more general clinical viability, challenges include advancing the evidence for mHealth effectiveness; promoting accessibility and inclusivity; sustaining patient engagement and successful integration into clinical workflows; ensuring mHealth safety; and considering future regulatory, economic, and pedagogical needs. If these challenges are met, asthma mHealth may help to deliver personalized digital asthma care when combined with novel artificial intelligence approaches, to improve the validity of future asthma research, and to enhance the provision of virtual asthma care. As mobile technology becomes a greater part of our lives and investment and interest in mHealth continues to grow, providers who care for patients with asthma must prepare for this mHealth digital revolution and lobby for safe, effective, and equitable mHealth solutions.