AsthmaMD app

This app lets you record your peak flow readings, asthma symptoms, triggers and medicines. You can email your records to others, such as your healthcare provider, family/whānau members or your school. The app allows you to create a 3-stage asthma action plan. The app records data anonymously for research purposes.

For the complete app description, go to the app website(external link), Google Play(external link) or App store(external link) and, for a detailed review, see reviews below.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Dr Alice Miller, FRNZCGP, Locum GP, Wellington Region
Date of review: February 2021
Platform: Apple
Version: 3.35
Comments: The app allows you to diarise your asthma symptoms, medications and create your asthma action plan within the app. You can log information about triggers and create medication reminders which could help your medical team improve your care. Suited to to people with asthma or parents of children with asthma. There is the option to share data reports with your medical caregiver(s) or school but I could not get this to work. The app asks me to enter a “PSP code” to register for the app/participate in something and was unable to figure out what this is for but the app still worked if I entered '0000' and later changed settings to cancel participation.

Shares anonymised data with US researchers to track asthma locations and patterns and when you register you consent to be enrolled in the A-connect programme collaboration with Astra Zeneca and AsthmaMD, which includes biannual measurement surveys (recommend exiting survey once registered in settings).
Safety concerns: None
New Zealand relevance: Not very suitable because the medication lists do not correlate well with available New Zealand medications and brands. Would be easier to use with children. Also the design of the action plan and medication lists do not correlate with the latest New Zealand asthma management guidelines for adolescents and adults recommending AIR (anti-inflammatory reliever therapy) for most people.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Jeremy Steinberg, GP, FRNZCGP
Date of review: January 2018
Platform: Android
Version: 1.7.10.5
Comments: This app is most useful for people with asthma and their caregivers. Users can track symptoms, triggers, peak flow, have medication reminders, share data and have an interactive asthma action plan. This asthma app is of high quality and has a great many useful features. However, the adult action plan template differs from those used in New Zealand (the child one is similar). For adults and those on SMART therapy I would recommend using the New Zealand asthma app (My Asthma) for action plans. However the New Zealand app is otherwise quite limited, and so using Asthma MD for the additional features (symptom and peak flow tracking, reminders, data visualisation, etc) would be a great option. For children, the action plan template is similar and so using Asthma MD alone would be acceptable. I recommend viewing the video tutorial as the app is not entirely intuitive to use. 
Safety concerns: None
New Zealand relevance: The adult action plan templates differ from those we use in New Zealand (the child one is similar). Medication names differ. In particular albertol is called salbutamol here. However you can add custom medications.