Daily digital biomarkers in the follow-up and clustering of patients with asthma
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background and Research question
We aimed to assess whether levels of digital biomarkers can reflect monthly patterns of asthma control
Study design and methods
We performed a longitudinal study on patients with asthma and comorbid rhinitis who filled ≥26 days of data in a month in the MASK-air® app and who reported at least 1 day of treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long-acting β2-agonist (ICS ± LABA). We applied k-means cluster analysis to define clusters of months according to daily asthma control and medication use. Clusters were compared using digital biomarkers (visual analogue scale [VAS] on asthma symptoms and electronic daily asthma control score [e-DASTHMA]). We compared patients who did not switch with patients who switched their ICS ± LABA.
Results
We assessed 243 patients and 1358 months. We identified three clusters of poor asthma control despite high ICS ± LABA adherence, one cluster of poor asthma control and poor ICS ± LABA adherence, one cluster of good asthma control and high ICS ± LABA adherence and one cluster of good asthma control despite poor ICS ± LABA adherence. These clusters displayed relevant differences in VAS asthma and e-DASTHMA levels. Similar clusters were found in ‘non-switchers’ versus ‘switchers’.
Conclusion
Levels of digital biomarkers reflect asthma control patterns and might be used to monitor patients with asthma.
We aimed to assess whether levels of digital biomarkers can reflect monthly patterns of asthma control
Study design and methods
We performed a longitudinal study on patients with asthma and comorbid rhinitis who filled ≥26 days of data in a month in the MASK-air® app and who reported at least 1 day of treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long-acting β2-agonist (ICS ± LABA). We applied k-means cluster analysis to define clusters of months according to daily asthma control and medication use. Clusters were compared using digital biomarkers (visual analogue scale [VAS] on asthma symptoms and electronic daily asthma control score [e-DASTHMA]). We compared patients who did not switch with patients who switched their ICS ± LABA.
Results
We assessed 243 patients and 1358 months. We identified three clusters of poor asthma control despite high ICS ± LABA adherence, one cluster of poor asthma control and poor ICS ± LABA adherence, one cluster of good asthma control and high ICS ± LABA adherence and one cluster of good asthma control despite poor ICS ± LABA adherence. These clusters displayed relevant differences in VAS asthma and e-DASTHMA levels. Similar clusters were found in ‘non-switchers’ versus ‘switchers’.
Conclusion
Levels of digital biomarkers reflect asthma control patterns and might be used to monitor patients with asthma.
Date Issued
2025-12-01
Date Acceptance
2025-07-08
Citation
Pulmonology, 2025, 31 (1)
ISSN
2531-0429
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal / Book Title
Pulmonology
Volume
31
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/40718903
Subjects
Asthma
COPD
electronic symptom-medication score
inhaled corticosteroids
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
mHealth
OVERLAP
PROMs
Respiratory System
Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
2532980
Date Publish Online
2025-07-28