Use of a mobile/portable computing device to assist in management strategies and to increase patient and caregiver awareness in asthmatics

• Main Author: Low, Siew Teong.
• Other Authors: Lun, Kwok Chan
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Computer applications::Life and medical sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/2381
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study investigates the use of a mobile / portable computing device (Palm OS based PDA) together with a specially written application ('AsthmAware') to assist in management strategies in asthmatic patients and to improve patient and caregiver awareness of the medical condition. Most of the users of AsthmAware found the program useful, easy to use and felt subjectively that it had improved their knowledge of the condition. Such a device was found to be effective in improving patient and caregiver awareness. However a drawback was the limited use of Palm OS based PDAs amongst asthmatic patients and their caregivers. Thus AsthmAware would need to be tested in a larger sample to validate the findings of this study.