Davos@home: patient and health care providers’ perceptions on mHealth after high altitude climate treatment

Introduction: High Altitude Climate Therapy (HACT) combines trigger avoidance with clinical rehabilitation. Patients with severe asthma, who are unable to reach asthma control, follow a 12-week program at 1600 meters above sea level. Mobile health (mHealth) tools can be used to support self-management when patients return home. In order for an mHealth application to be effective, it needs to meet expectations of end-users. Aim: To explore attitudes towards mHealth of severe, difficult-to-control asthma patients who underwent HACT and asthma healthcare providers (HCP). Method: Interviews with referrers to HACT, and focus groups with asthma patients who underwent or finished HACT were conducted. Transcripts underwent thematic analysis. Based on the results a questionnaire was developed. In the second stage of the study this questionnaire, combined with the Individual Innovativeness questionnaire, was distributed to patients who finished HACT. Results: In total 11 interviews and 3 focus groups (n=18, age 47.6, ACQ 2.59) were conducted. Three themes were created: potential goals, useful measurements and perceived barriers and facilitators. Numerous different goals and functions were named. The questionnaire (n=34) included questions based on the these results. Availability of environmental data (91%) and measuring steps (87%) were the functions with the most support. Conclusion: Different patients reported they would benefit the most from different measures. Therefore it is important to take individual (treatment) goals into consideration and to have personalisation options available in order to ensure not to overwhelm the users.