Digital Asthma Program Improves Symptom Control in Adults: Daily Dose

_{©New Africa/AdobeStock}

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

On July 18, 2025, we reported on a study published in JAMA Network Open that examined the effect of a digital asthma self-management (DASM) program on symptoms in adults with asthma.

The study

The decentralized, open-label trial enrolled 901 US adults between October 2020 and November 2021, with 899 included in the final analysis. Participants were randomized to receive either usual care or access to the DASM program, which provided tailored symptom tracking, biometric feedback, educational tools, and medication reminders via a smartphone app. Both groups received wearable devices, but only the intervention group had access to DASM features. The study population was relatively young (mean age, 36.6 years), predominantly women (71%), and racially and ethnically diverse. Approximately 22% identified as Black or African American, 14% as Hispanic or Latino, and 24% were Medicaid insured, which served as a proxy for lower socioeconomic status.

The primary outcome was change in the Asthma Control Test (ACT), a validated measure of asthma control, according to the study.

The findings

The mean ACT score increased by 4.6 points in the DASM group compared to 1.8 points in the control group, for an adjusted between-group difference of 2.8 points (95% CI, 2.0–3.6; P <.001).

Investigators reported unequal distribution of benefit, however, with the effect significantly attenuated among Black individuals. Among Black participants, the between-arm difference in ACT change was 1.0 (95% CI, −0.7 to 2.7; P =.26), which was not statistically significant. In contrast, participants who did not identify as Black had a difference of 3.3 points (95% CI, 2.4–4.2; P <.001). The interaction between race and treatment effect also was significant (P = .02), while no such interaction was observed for ethnicity or insurance status.

Authors' comments

"Differences in treatment effects may relate to varying engagement. Future work is needed to adapt the program with the goal to confer benefit throughout diverse populations."

Click here for more details.