Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Wearable Technology and How This Can Be Implemented into Clinical Practice

  • Telemedicine and Technology (J Portnoy, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Our day-to-day life is saturated with health data that was previously out of reach. Over the last decade, new devices and fitness technology companies are attempting to tap into this data, uncovering a treasure trove of useful information that, when applied correctly, has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach healthcare and chronic conditions like asthma, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent Findings

By harnessing exciting developments in personalization, digitization, wellness, and patient engagement, care providers can improve health outcomes for our patients in a way we have never been able to do in the past. While new technologies to capture individual health metrics are everywhere, how can we use this information to make a real difference in our patients’ lives? Navigating the complicated landscape of personal wearable devices, asthma inhaler sensors, and exercise apps can be daunting to even the most tech savvy physician.

Summary

This manuscript will give you the tools necessary to make lasting changes in your patients’ lives by exposing them to a world of usable, affordable, and relatable health technology that resonates with their personal fitness and wellness goals. These tools will be even more important post-COVID-19, as the landscape of clinical outpatient care changes from mainly in-person visits to a greater reliance on telemedicine and remote monitoring.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

  1. Caulfield BM, Donnelly SC. What is connected health and why will it change your practice? QJM. 2013;106(8):703–7. https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hct114.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Tsai AG, Wadden TA. Systematic review: an evaluation of major commercial weight loss programs in the United States. Ann Intern Med. 2005;142(1):56–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Essery R, Geraghty AW, Kirby S, Yardley L. Predictors of adherence to home-based physical therapies: a systematic review. Disabil Rehabil. 2017;39(6):519–34. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2016.1153160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Heshka S, Anderson JW, Atkinson RL, Greenway FL, Hill JO, Phinney SD, et al. Weight loss with self-help compared with a structured commercial program: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2003;289(14):1792–8. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.289.14.1792.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Wing RR, Jeffery RW. Benefits of recruiting participants with friends and increasing social support for weight loss and maintenance. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1999;67(1):132–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hwang KO, Ottenbacher AJ, Green AP, Cannon-Diehl MR, Richardson O, Bernstam EV, et al. Social support in an Internet weight loss community. Int J Med Inform. 2010;79(1):5–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2009.10.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Lambert TE, Harvey LA, Avdalis C, Chen LW, Jeyalingam S, Pratt CA, et al. An app with remote support achieves better adherence to home exercise programs than paper handouts in people with musculoskeletal conditions: a randomised trial. Aust J Phys. 2017;63(3):161–7.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Goto M, Takedani H, Haga N, Kubota M, Ishiyama M, Ito S, et al. Self-monitoring has potential for home exercise programmes in patients with haemophilia. Haemophilia. 2014;20:e121–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hutchesson MJ, Rollo ME, Krukowski R, Ells L, Harvey J, Morgan PJ, et al. eHealth interventions for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2015;16:376–92.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Cotter AP, Durant N, Agne AA, Cherrington AL. Internet interventions to support lifestyle modification for diabetes management: a systematic review of the evidence. J Diabetes Complicat. 2014;28:243–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Buller DB, Borland R, Bettinghaus EP, Shane JH, Zimmerman DE. Randomized trial of a smartphone mobile application compared to text messaging to support smoking cessation. Telemed J E Health. 2014;20:206–14.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lamkin P. Smart wearables market to double by 2022: $27 billion industry forecast. Forbes. 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/paullamkin/2018/10/23/smart-wearables-market-to-double-by-2022-27-billion-industry-forecast/#2d54a9e12656 (accessed 14 Jan 2020).

  13. https://www.statista.com/statistics/543070/number-of-wearable-users-in-the-us/ (accessed 3/1/2020).

  14. Apple launches three innovative studies today in the new Research app. Apple Newsroom. 2019. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/11/apple-launches-three-innovative-studies-today-in-the-new-research-app/ (accessed 14 Jan 2020).

  15. Beach MC, Keruly J, Moore RD. Is the quality of the patient-provider relationship associated with better adherence and health outcomes for patients with HIV? J Gen Intern Med. 2006;21:661–5.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Bertakis KD, Azari R. Patient-centered care is associated with decreased health care utilization. J Am Board Fam Med. 2011;24:229–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Alvarez C, Greene J, Hibbard J, Overton V. The role of primary care providers in patient activation and engagement in self-management: a cross-sectional analysis. BMC Health Serv Res. 2016;16(1):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1328-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. •• Castner J, Mammen MJ, Jungquist CR, et al. Validation of fitness tracker for sleep measures in women with asthma. J Asthma. 2019;56:719–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/02770903.2018.1490753More objective look at fitness trackers’ ability to accurately quantify sleep patterns in the home environment as an adjunct to subjective reports.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Koinis-Mitchell D, Kopel SJ, Seifer R, et al. Asthma-related lung function, sleep quality, and sleep duration in urban children. Sleep Health. 2017;3:148–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2017.03.008.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Rosenberger ME, Buman MP, Haskell WL, et al. Twenty-four hours of sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity with nine wearable devices. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48:457–65. https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000000778.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Bian J, Guo Y, Xie M, Parish AE, Wardlaw I, Brown R, et al. Exploring the association between self-reported asthma impact and Fitbit-derived sleep quality and physical activity measures in adolescents. JMIR mHealth uHealth. 2017;5:e105. Original Paper 25.07.2017. https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.7346.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Jaimini U, Thirunarayan K, Kalra M, et al. “How is my child’s asthma?” Digital Phenotype and Actionable Insights for Pediatric Asthma. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2018. https://doi.org/10.2196/11988.

  23. Venkataramanan R, Thirunarayan K, Jaimini U, et al. Determination of personalized asthma triggers from multimodal sensing and a mobile app: observational study. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2019;2:e14300. https://doi.org/10.2196/14300.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Anusha AR, Soodi AL and Kumar SP. Design of low-cost hardware for lung sound acquisition and determination of inspiratory-expiratory phase using respiratory waveform. In: 2012 Third International Conference on Computing, Communication and Networking Technologies (ICCCNT'12) 26–28 July 2012 2012, pp.1–5.

  25. Liu G-Z, Guo Y-W, Zhu Q-S, Huang BY, Wang L. Estimation of respiration rate from three-dimensional acceleration data based on body sensor network. Telemed J E Health. 2011;17:705–11. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2011.0022.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Boner AL, Piacentini GL, Peroni DG, et al. Children with nocturnal asthma wheeze intermittently during sleep. J Asthma. 2010;47(3):290–4. 103109/0277090090349718828.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Mahler DA. Peak inspiratory flow rate as a criterion for dry powder inhaler use in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017;14:1103–7 2017/05/10. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201702-156PS.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Safioti G, Granovsky L, Li T, et al. A predictive model for clinical asthma exacerbations using albuterol eMDPI (ProAir Digihaler): a 12-week, open-label study. A31 ASTHMA: CLINICAL STUDIES I. Am Thoracic Soc. 2019:A7307–7.

  29. https://www.propellerhealth.com/ (accessed 3/5/2020).

  30. Van Sickle D, Magzamen S, Truelove S, et al. Remote monitoring of inhaled bronchodilator use and weekly feedback about asthma management: an open-group, short-term pilot study of the impact on asthma control. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:e55335. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055335.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. •• Merchant RK, Inamdar R, Quade RC. Effectiveness of population health management using the propeller health asthma platform: a randomized clinical trial. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2016;4(4):455–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2015.11.022Novel look at how adherence tracking using Propeller Health Asthma Platform significantly reduced rescue inhaler use and improved ACT scores.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Barrett MA, Humblet O, Marcus JE, et al. Effect of a mobile health, sensor-driven asthma management platform on asthma control. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2017;119:415–421.e411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2017.08.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Merchant R, Szefler SJ, Bender BG, et al. Impact of a digital health intervention on asthma resource utilization. World Allergy Org J. 2018;11:28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40413-018-0209-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. https://www.adherium.com/technology (accessed 3/3/2020).

  35. Charles T, Quinn D, Weatherall M, Aldington S, Beasley R, Holt S. An audiovisual reminder function improves adherence with inhaled corticosteroid therapy in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007;119:811–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2006.11.700.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Foster JM, Smith L, Usherwood T, Sawyer SM, Rand CS, Reddel HK. The reliability and patient acceptability of the SmartTrack device: a new electronic monitor and reminder device for metered dose inhalers. J Asthma. 2012;49:657–62. https://doi.org/10.3109/02770903.2012.684253.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Morton RW, Elphick HE, Rigby AS, Daw WJ, King DA, Smith LJ, et al. STAAR: a randomised controlled trial of electronic adherence monitoring with reminder alarms and feedback to improve clinical outcomes for children with asthma. Thorax. 2017;72:347–54. https://doi.org/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-208171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Chan AHY, Stewart AW, Harrison J, et al. The effect of an electronic monitoring device with audiovisual reminder function on adherence to inhaled corticosteroids and school attendance in children with asthma: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2015;3:210–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(15)00008-9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Burgess SW, Sly PD, Devadason SG. Providing feedback on adherence increases use of preventive medication by asthmatic children. J Asthma. 2010;47:198–201. https://doi.org/10.3109/02770900903483840.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Moran C, Doyle F, Sulaiman I, Bennett K, Greene G, Molloy GJ, et al. The INCATM (Inhaler Compliance AssessmentTM): a comparison with established measures of adherence. Psychol Health. 2017;32:1266–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2017.1290243.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. •• Himes BE, Leszinsky L, Walsh R, et al. Mobile health and inhaler-based monitoring devices for asthma management. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2019;7:2535–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2019.08.034Nice overview of mobile health and web applications, wearables, and other personal monitoring devices to improve asthma management.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Wu AC, Carpenter JF, Himes BE. Mobile health applications for asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2015;3:446–448.e416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2014.12.011.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Marcano Belisario JS, Huckvale K, Greenfield G, et al. Smartphone and tablet self management apps for asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013:Cd010013. 2013/11/28. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010013.pub2.

  44. Farzandipour M, Nabovati E, Sharif R, Arani M, Anvari S. Patient self-management of asthma using mobile health applications: a systematic review of the functionalities and effects. Appl Clin Inform. 2017;08:1068–81. https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2017-07-R-0116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. •• Ramsey RR, Caromody JK, Voorhees SE, et al. A systematic evaluation of asthma management apps examining behavior change techniques. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2019;7:2583–91.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaip.2019.03.041Comprehensive evidence-based evaluation of asthma management apps utilizing the presence or absence of behavior change techniques to evaluate efficacy.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Sunyaev A, Dehling T, Taylor PL, et al. Availability and quality of mobile health app privacy policies. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2015;22:e28–33. 2014/08/26. https://doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2013-002605.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Li X, Dunn J, Salins D, et al. Digital health: tracking physiomes and activity using wearable biosensors reveals useful health-related information. PLoS Biol. 2017;15(1):e2001402. Published 2017 Jan 12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001402.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bernstein Allergy Group, Inc, 8444 Winton Road, Cincinnati, OH, 45231, USA

    Justin Greiwe

  2. Division of Immunology/Allergy Section, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Justin Greiwe

  3. Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sharmilee M. Nyenhuis

  4. Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sharmilee M. Nyenhuis

Authors
  1. Justin Greiwe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sharmilee M. Nyenhuis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin Greiwe.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Greiwe is a consultant for AstraZeneca on social media and respiratory biologics scientific expert on the virtual advisory board; Sanofi Grenzyme Dupixent scientific expert on the virtual advisory board; honoraria from AstraZeneca Fesenra Speakers Bureau, Regeneron, and Sanofi Grenzyme Dupixent Speakers Bureau. Dr. Nyenhuis is a board member of Chicago Asthma Consortium; grant from National Institute of Health, honoraria from Sanofi, royalties from Springer Nature and Wolters Kluwer Health.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Telemedicine and Technology

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Greiwe, J., Nyenhuis, S.M. Wearable Technology and How This Can Be Implemented into Clinical Practice. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 20, 36 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-020-00927-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-020-00927-3

Keywords