Smart Inhalers for Asthmatic Adolescents Final Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the Attitudes of Asthmatic Adolescents towards the ‘Smart Inhaler’ – a new Digital Health Monitoring Device
IRAS ID
141649
Contact name
Dominick Shaw
Contact email
Research summary
This study is investigating the attitudes of adolescents with asthma towards a new device called the ’Smart Inhaler’. The version of Smart Inhaler to be used in this study is the ’Smart Track’ inhaler; this is a black plastic casing that clips around a patients normal inhaler. It can remind the patient to use their inhaler by playing a ringtone, much like a mobile phone. It can also record the date and time for whenever the inhaler is used and by connecting the Smart Inhaler to a computer, this information can be uploaded to the Smart Inhaler website, so information on when a patient has used their inhaler and how well they have stuck to their treatment schedule can be viewed.
For this study, ten adolescents with asthma will use a Smart Track inhaler for one month. During this time they will fill out three questionnaires and complete three interviews with the researcher at the beginning, middle and end of the month. The purpose of these will be to find out how adolescents with asthma feel about the Smart Inhaler. This includes opinions on it’s appearance, feelings towards the Smart Inhalers ability to record their inhaler use, and opinions on who, if anyone, this information on inhaler use should be available to or shared with (parents, asthma nurse, GP, etc.). A parent or legal guardian will also fill out three questionnaires on their attitudes towards the Smart Inhaler, and the ten adolescents who try out the Smart Inhaler will also keep a diary over the month, where they are to write down any problems or errors they have whilst using the Smart Inhaler.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/0003
Date of REC Opinion
26 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion