A mobile telephone-based interactive self-care system improves asthma control

The self-management of asthma can improve clinical outcomes. Recently, mobile telephones have been widely used as an efficient, instant personal communication tool. This study investigated whether a self-care system will achieve better asthma control through a mobile telephone-based interactive programme. This was a prospective, controlled study in outpatient clinics. From 120 consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma, 89 were eventually recruited for the study, with 43 in the mobile telephone group (with a mobile telephone-based interactive asthma self-care system). In the mobile telephone group, mean±SEM peak expiratory flow rate significantly increased at 4 (378.2±9.3 L·min-1; n=43; p=0.020), 5 (378.2±9.2 L·min-1; n=43; p=0.008) and 6 months (382.7±8.6 L·min-1; n=43; p=0.001) compared to the control group. Mean±SEM forced expiratory volume in 1 s significantly increased at 6 months (65.2±3.2% predicted; n=43; p