Continga vDOT for Asthma

Asthma is a health problem affecting approximately 253 million people worldwide. Many studies have reported that the majority of patients (50%-80%) fail to use effective inhaler technique and this inadequate inhaler use is one of the reasons for the high prevalence of uncontrolled asthma. Moreover, it has been noted that most patients overestimate their inhaler use capability and are not aware of making mistakes during inhaler use.

Although inhaled corticosteroid therapy (ICS) is central to asthma management, some patients do not use their treatment as prescribed. Non-adherence to medication with asthma can have various negative consequences such as frequent clinic visits, disease exacerbation and hospital admission, all of which lead to an increased cost of care.

DOT (Directly Observed Therapy) has been promoted by the World Health Organisation to enhance the adherence of patients with tuberculosis (TB), which involves visiting the patient in person for observation of the patient's medication. Recently, DOT has also been applied to Asthma use cases.

Continga's vDOT (Video Directly Observed Therapy)  reduces the time and costs associated with DOT, by using the patient's own phone to record videos of their medication usage. This allows not only adherence to be monitored, but for this Asthma use case, the inhaler technique to be observed. Corrective education can be provided to the patient in a timely manner, allowing the patient's inhaler technique to improve and good habit to form.

Mobile video directly observed therapy can be used to improve at-home inhaler technique in children with asthma

Shields MD, McElnay J. ERJ Open Res. 2021 Oct 4;7(4):00463-2021.

DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00463-2021

Mobile direct observation of therapy (MDOT) - A rapid systematic review and pilot study in children with asthma

Shields MD, ALQahtani F, Rivey MP, McElnay JC. PLoS One. 2018 Feb 5;13(2):e0190031.

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190031

Feasibility of video observed therapy to support controller inhaler use among children in West Baltimore

K McIntire, B Weis, L Litwin Ye & SD Krugman Journal of Asthma, (2021)

DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2021.1984525

Comparison of inhalation technique with the Diskus and Autohaler in asthmatic children at home

van der Kolk A, Lammers N, Brusse-Keizer M, van der Palen J, Faber J, Spenkelink-Visser R, Thio BJ. ERJ Open Res. 2021 Apr 19;7(2):00215-2019.

DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00215-2019.