A protocol for a randomised clinical trial of the effect of providing feedback on inhaler technique and adherence from an electronic device in patients with poorly controlled severe asthma

ntroduction In clinical practice, it is difficult to distinguish between patients with refractory asthma from those with poorly controlled asthma, where symptoms persist due to poor adherence, inadequate inhaler technique or comorbid diseases. We designed an audio recording device which, when attached to an inhaler, objectively identifies the time and technique of inhaler use, thereby assessing both aspects of adherence. This study will test the hypothesis that feedback on these two aspects of adherence when passed on to patients improves adherence and helps clinicians distinguish refractory from difficult-to-control asthma. Methods This is a single, blind, prospective, randomised, clinical trial performed at 5 research centres. Patients with partially controlled or uncontrolled severe asthma who have also had at least one severe asthma exacerbation in the prior year are eligible to participate. The effect of two types of nurse-delivered education interventions to promote adherence and inhaler technique will be assessed. The active group will receive feedback on their inhaler technique and adherence from the new device over a 3-month period. The control group will also receive training in inhaler technique and strategies to promote adherence, but no feedback from the device. The primary outcome is the difference in actual adherence, a measure that incorporates time and technique of inhaler use between groups at the end of the third month. Secondary outcomes include the number of patients who remain refractory despite good adherence, and differences in the components of adherence after the intervention. Data will be analysed on an intention-to-treat and a per-protocol basis. The sample size is 220 subjects (110 in each group), and loss to follow-up is estimated at 10% which will allow results to show a 10% difference (0.8 power) in adherence between group means with a type I error probability of 0.05. Trial registration number NCT01529697; Pre-results

A Method to Calculate Adherence to Inhaled Therapy That Reflects the Changes in Clinical Features of Asthma.

Rationale Currently studies on adherence to inhaled medications report Average Adherence over time. This measure does not account for variations in the interval between doses nor for errors in inhaler use. Objectives We investigated whether adherence calculated as a single Area Under the concentration-time Curve (AUC) measure, incorporating the interval between doses and inhaler technique, was more reflective of patient outcomes than current methods of assessing adherence. Methods We attached a digital audio device (INCATM) to a dry powder inhaler. This recorded when the inhaler was used and analysis of the audio data indicated if the inhaler had been used correctly. These aspects of inhaler use were combined to calculate adherence over time, as an AUC measure. Over a 3 month period a cohort of asthma patients were studied. Adherence to a twice-daily inhaler preventer therapy using this device and clinical measures were assessed. Measurements and Results Recordings from 239 patients with severe asthma were analysed. Average Adherence, based on the dose counter was 84.4%, whereas the ratio of expected to observed accumulated AUC, Actual Adherence, was 61.8% (

A protocol for a randomised clinical trial of the effect of providing feedback on inhaler technique and adherence from an electronic device in patients with poorly controlled severe asthma.

INTRODUCTION: In clinical practice, it is difficult to distinguish between patients with refractory asthma from those with poorly controlled asthma, where symptoms persist due to poor adherence, inadequate inhaler technique or comorbid diseases. We designed an audio recording device which, when attached to an inhaler, objectively identifies the time and technique of inhaler use, thereby assessing both aspects of adherence. This study will test the hypothesis that feedback on these two aspects of adherence when passed on to patients improves adherence and helps clinicians distinguish refractory from difficult-to-control asthma. METHODS: This is a single, blind, prospective, randomised, clinical trial performed at 5 research centres. Patients with partially controlled or uncontrolled severe asthma who have also had at least one severe asthma exacerbation in the prior year are eligible to participate. The effect of two types of nurse-delivered education interventions to promote adherence and inhaler technique will be assessed. The active group will receive feedback on their inhaler technique and adherence from the new device over a 3-month period. The control group will also receive training in inhaler technique and strategies to promote adherence, but no feedback from the device. The primary outcome is the difference in actual adherence, a measure that incorporates time and technique of inhaler use between groups at the end of the third month. Secondary outcomes include the number of patients who remain refractory despite good adherence, and differences in the components of adherence after the intervention. Data will be analysed on an intention-to-treat and a per-protocol basis. The sample size is 220 subjects (110 in each group), and loss to follow-up is estimated at 10% which will allow results to show a 10% difference (0.8 power) in adherence between group means with a type I error probability of 0.05. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01529697; Pre-results

A Method to Assess Adherence in Inhaler Use through Analysis of Acoustic Recordings of Inhaler Events

Rationale Poor adherence to inhaler use can be due to poor temporal and/or technique adherence. Up until now there has been no way of reliably tracking both these factors in everyday inhaler use. Objectives This paper introduces a device developed to create time stamped acoustic recordings of an individual\u27s inhaler use, in which empirical evidence of temporal and technique adherence in inhaler use can be monitored over time. The correlation between clinical outcomes and adherence, as determined by this device, was compared for temporal adherence alone and combined temporal and technique adherence. Findings The technology was validated by showing that the doses taken matched the number of audio recordings (r2?=?0.94, p20% of their inhaler events. Repeated training reduced this to 7% of participants (p?=?0.03). When time of use was considered, there was no evidence of a relationship between adherence and changes in AQLQ (r2?=?0.2) or PEFR (r2?=?0.2). Combining time and technique the rate of adherence was related to changes in AQLQ (r2?=?0.53, p?=?0.01) and PEFR (r2?=?0.29, p?=?0.01). Conclusions This study presents a novel method to objectively assess how errors in both time and technique of inhaler use impact on clinical outcomes

Acoustic and Temporal Analysis of Speech: A Potential Biomarker for Schizophrenia

Currently, there are no established objective biomarkers for the diagnosis or monitoring of schizophrenia. It has been previously reported that there are notable qualitative differences in the speech of schizophrenics. The objective of this study was to determine whether a quantitative acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may be a potential biomarker for schizophrenia. In this study, 39 schizophrenic patients and 18 controls were digitally recorded reading aloud an emotionally neutral text passage from a children\u27s story. Temporal, energy and vocal pitch features were automatically extracted from the recordings. A classifier based on linear discriminant analysis was employed to differentiate between controls and schizophrenic subjects. Processing the recordings with the algorithm developed demonstrated that it is possible to differentiate schizophrenic patients and controls with a classification accuracy of 79.4% (specificity=83.6%, sensitivity=75.2%) based on speech pause related parameters extracted from recordings carried out in standard office (non-studio) environments. Acoustic and temporal analysis of speech may represent a potential tool for the objective analysis in schizophrenia

A protocol for a randomised clinical trial of the effect of providing feedback on inhaler technique and adherence from an electronic device in patients with poorly controlled severe asthma.

Introduction In clinical practice, it is difficult to distinguish between patients with refractory asthma from those with poorly controlled asthma, where symptoms persist due to poor adherence, inadequate inhaler technique or comorbid diseases. We designed an audio recording device which, when attached to an inhaler, objectively identifies the time and technique of inhaler use, thereby assessing both aspects of adherence. This study will test the hypothesis that feedback on these two aspects of adherence when passed on to patients improves adherence and helps clinicians distinguish refractory from difficult-to-control asthma. Methods This is a single, blind, prospective, randomised, clinical trial performed at 5 research centres. Patients with partially controlled or uncontrolled severe asthma who have also had at least one severe asthma exacerbation in the prior year are eligible to participate. The effect of two types of nurse-delivered education interventions to promote adherence and inhaler technique will be assessed. The active group will receive feedback on their inhaler technique and adherence from the new device over a 3-month period. The control group will also receive training in inhaler technique and strategies to promote adherence, but no feedback from the device. The primary outcome is the difference in actual adherence, a measure that incorporates time and technique of inhaler use between groups at the end of the third month. Secondary outcomes include the number of patients who remain refractory despite good adherence, and differences in the components of adherence after the intervention. Data will be analysed on an intention-to-treat and a per-protocol basis. The sample size is 220 subjects (110 in each group), and loss to follow-up is estimated at 10% which will allow results to show a 10% difference (0.8 power) in adherence between group means with a type I error probability of 0.05