Clinical review
At current price
If on sale
Reviewer: Jeremy Steinberg, GP, FRNZCGP
Date of review: June 2018
Comments: This app is most useful for people with asthma or COPD struggling with medication compliance. Poor compliance with asthma medication is a big problem. For many people it can be very hard to remember to use their inhalers. There is some evidence that using electronic inhalers like Hailie can improve compliance (3,4).
I tested out the Turbuhaler (Symbicort) and MDI (Respigen) versions for two months. I was impressed by its utility and ease of use. However it is a little behind some of it’s competitors in that it doesn’t provide any feedback on inhaler use and it is non rechargeable.
At the current price it is too expensive for me to recommend it to anyone except those that are very well-off unless if it was on sale.
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: Very relevant to New Zealand - designed by a New Zealand company for inhalers available in New Zealand.
References
- Patel M, Pilcher J, Chan A, Perrin K, Black P, Beasley R. Six-month in vitro validation of a metered-dose inhaler electronic monitoring device: Implications for asthma clinical trial use. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2012 Dec 1;130(6):1420–2.
- Pilcher J, Shirtcliffe P, Patel M, McKinstry S, Cripps T, Weatherall M, et al. Three-month validation of a turbuhaler electronic monitoring device: implications for asthma clinical trial use. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2015 Nov 1;2(1):e000097.
- Chan AHY, Stewart AW, Harrison J, Camargo CA, Black PN, Mitchell EA. The effect of an electronic monitoring device with audiovisual reminder function on adherence to inhaled corticosteroids and school attendance in children with asthma: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2015 Mar 1;3(3):210–9.
- Inhaler reminders improve adherence with controller treatment in primary care patients with asthma(external link) - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology [Internet].
