A qualitative study of the attitudes of patients and staff to the use of mobile phone technology for recording and gathering asthma data

Linking mobile phone technology with electronic data collection may facilitate the research experience and improve compliance. We conducted a qualitative interview study using a purposeful sample of 10 patients with asthma and two research staff. Patient diary information was collected twice a day using an electronic peak flow meter linked to a mobile phone with an interactive screen to record current asthma symptoms transmitted to, and stored in, a server. An analysis of the interview data identified key technological adjustments and support factors which would improve the application of the technology in future clinical trials. Patients and staff believed that mobile phone technology would be useful in clinical practice as well as research. Its main uses were seen as identifying poor control more quickly and facilitating communication with healthcare professionals without the need for face-to-face consultation. There was a high degree of acceptability to both patients and staff.