Smart Technology Supports Better Asthma Control, Research Finds
Key Highlights:
- A digital asthma study using wearables and app alerts helped people track symptoms and manage their condition.
- The clinical trial used random assignment and a control group to ensure reliable results.
- Including people from various backgrounds produced greater confidence in the research and more useful findings.
In a clinical trial run by Elevance Health and partner organizations, researchers found that a digital self-management program helped people with asthma better manage their symptoms. The findings offer evidence of how digital health technology can be used to support people living with a chronic condition. Dr. Vincent Willey, who leads the Real World Evidence Science and Services department for Carelon Research, discusses the study.
How It Worked
Using a smartwatch and bed sensor, researchers could track patterns in physical activity level and nighttime wakeups.
“These can be signals of reduced asthma symptom control,” Willey said. “When concerning patterns showed up, the app would check in with a notification.”
In subsequent questions through the app, a person might be asked whether there was a recent external influence — like exposure to cigarette smoke — or whether medication had been taken. The system improves awareness of symptoms and nudges adults with asthma toward more active and informed management. The program also delivered evidence-based education, asthma action plans, prescription management tools, and other features, to help people monitor asthma symptoms before a bad flare might occur.
“A key capability was passive monitoring, with alerts surfaced at opportune moments,” Willey said. “Some adults with asthma might be more inclined to stick to this approach. This tool is meant to supplement — not replace — the current standards of personalized care that people with asthma receive from their doctors.”
How Success Was Measured
Willey notes the study used a randomized, controlled approach. Participants were assigned to either the digital program, or more standard asthma care with a modified app lacking notifications and other self-management features.
“This gives us valuable information — it helps us understand whether the program genuinely improved members’ health. Many similar products are tested using less rigorous methods, often leading to unwarranted exuberance,” he said. “This level of rigor helped generate trustworthy, actionable results.”
Measuring Effectiveness
Changes in asthma symptom control over time were assessed using patient-reported outcome measures. Better scores meant people had fewer symptoms.
Emergency department (ED) visits related to asthma were tracked. Internal data showed lower ED use, indicating the program could help reduce the need for care for urgent issues.
What did it feel like for participants?
Fewer frightening asthma episodes and more typical days, which supported the program’s core goal of easier,
safer daily living.
Why Results Can Be Shaped by Who Joins a Study
Willey said studies like this one can have challenges recruiting a diverse mix of participants.
“We tend to get highly motivated study volunteers, many of whom might do a good job managing their health regardless of any tools we provide. We might see symptoms improve no matter what,” Willey said. Without an appropriate control group and rigorous methods, it’s difficult to tell whether a new technology truly made the difference. “Results can look better than they really are.”
To avoid this, the trial included:
- Random assignments: Participants were assigned by chance alone to one of the two groups. One group used the digital asthma self-management program, while the other continued without distinct tools from the program. This approach created two groups that were similar in most ways, so any observed differences could reasonably be attributed to the digital symptom control program rather than routine care.
- Participants from various backgrounds: The study recruited a diverse group of people to reflect those who live with asthma and may need help most.
“We wanted to include individuals from varying socioeconomic backgrounds in order to generate evidence that is generalizable to the broadest population,” Willey said. These steps supported appropriate testing of the program, strengthening confidence in the usefulness of findings.
Why Elevance Health Conducts Research Like This
Elevance Health worked with its Carelon Research team on this project. “We continually seek opportunities to improve the health of the people we serve through our data-driven approach,” Willey said. This clinical study sought to determine whether digital health tools like this one can work at scale, too.
“We want to make sure it truly works and helps people manage their health before we offer it to a broader set of our membership,” Willey said. “The goal is always better health for our members.”