Smartphone app can predict asthma deterioration by measuring night-time coughing.

[2greys]

Researchers have shown that night-time coughing, measured via a smartphone app, can indicate that asthma is getting worse.

The study, presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress, is the first of its kind to measure patients’ coughing over a series of nights and shows that it is a sign of their asthma deteriorating.

Researchers say the app could represent a new way to help patients and their doctors monitor asthma and adjust medication to keep symptoms under control.

The study was led by Dr Frank Rassouli, from the Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, Switzerland. He told the virtual conference: “Until now, we haven’t had a reliable tool for measuring peoples’ asthma symptoms overnight, so we know very little about night-time coughing and what it means.

“The current focus of our research group is using technology and simple interventions to improve the management of chronic lung diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smartphones have lots of potential to monitor different symptoms and detect changes early, so we worked with our research partners from University of St. Gallen and ETH Zurich to develop an app for measuring coughing.”

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