App collects allergy symptoms in real time
REPORTING FROM THE AAAAI/WAO JOINT CONGRESS
ORLANDO – Use of an app combining patient-reported symptoms with local environmental triggers led patients to take action to improve their health, Penny Jones, PhD, reported at the joint congress of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and the World Asthma Organization.
AirRater is a smartphone app and data collection network that includes information on air particulates, daily pollen and fungi counts, temperature, and planned burn locations. Patients enter their respiratory symptoms, which are correlated with local environmental conditions, according to Dr. Jones, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tasmania (Australia) in Hobart.
Most of the environmental data are gathered from government agencies; however, researchers collect pollen and fungi counts at their own stations.
Patients do not see the environmental data until they’ve logged in their symptoms so that their reports aren’t biased by that information, Dr. Jones said, adding that the app also sends notifications when pollen and pollutant levels are high.
“It’s an environmental monitoring system coupled with a smartphone app designed to help people with allergies and asthma make better decisions around their health,” Dr. Jones said.
