{"210431":{"#nid":"210431","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Text Message A Day Keeps the Asthma Attack Away","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESimply sending children with asthma a text message each day asking about their symptoms and providing knowledge about their condition can lead to improved health outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a study by the Georgia Institute of Technology, pediatric patients who were asked questions about their symptoms and provided information about asthma via SMS text messages showed improved pulmonary function and a better understanding of their condition within four months, compared to other groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt appears that text messages acted as an implicit reminder for patients to take their medicine and by the end of the study, the kids were more in tune with their illness,\u201d said study leader Rosa Arriaga, senior research scientist in the College of Computing\u2019s School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ET.J. Yun, former Georgia Tech Ph.D. student, and Arriaga will present their research, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~arriaga\/YunArriagaCHI13.pdf\u0022\u003E\u0022A Text Message a Day Keeps the Pulmonologist Away\u0022\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~arriaga\/YunArriagaCHI13.pdf\u0022\u003E,\u003C\/a\u003E \u003C\/em\u003Etoday at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2013 in Paris.The research won a best paper award in the Replichi category, which highlights best practices in study methodology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is also a replication study of an SMS health intervention for pediatric asthma patients originally published in early 2012 in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the 2\u003Csup\u003End\u003C\/sup\u003E ACM SIGHIT International Health Informatics Symposium\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;The results of the research hold promise for the future of mHealth studies, a trend based on the idea that mobile devices can be used to improve health and wellness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAsthma is the most prevalent chronic respiratory disorder in the U.S., affecting about 17.3 million individuals, including more than 5 million children. Medication is the main way patients manage symptoms, but research shows less than 30 percent of teens use their inhalers regularly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETexting, on the other hand, is something teens do regularly and enjoy. Nearly 75 percent of American teens have mobile devices. Georgia Tech researchers were interested in seeing if this ubiquitous, easy-to-use technology could help young patients manage their asthma.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn both studies, the researchers randomly assigned 30 asthmatic children from a private pediatric pulmonology clinic in Atlanta into three groups \u2013 a control group that did not receive any SMS messages; a group that received text messages on alternate days and a group that received texts every day. The children were between 10 and 17 years old, owned a mobile phone and could read at least at a fifth grade level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver four months, the intervention groups received and responded to SMS messages 87 percent of the time, and the average response time was within 22 minutes. After the study, the research team analyzed patients who had follow-up visits with their physician and found that sending at least one text message a day, whether it was a question about symptoms or about asthma in general, improved clinical outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe results indicate that both awareness and knowledge are crucial to individuals engaging in proactive behavior to improve their condition,\u201d Arriaga said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn another mHealth study that highlighted the role that online social networks can have on wellness, Arriaga, Georgia Tech Regents Professor of Interactive Computing Gregory Abowd and graduate student Hwajung Hong investigated whether social networking could help individuals with autism improve their social connectedness.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the challenges individuals with autism face is not having a large enough network of people who can provide advice about everyday situations, such as home upkeep, financial planning or relationships. They tend to over-rely on a primary caregiver, which limits their independence and may burden the caregiver.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study involved three individuals with Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, a diagnosis that reflects average or above average language skills, but impaired social skills and patterns of behaviors and interests. Individuals with Asperger\u2019s Syndrome can have difficulty using traditional social networking sites such as Facebook because it requires a degree of social nuance. They also may be vulnerable to users trying to take advantage of them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address this issue, Georgia Tech researchers set up a specialized social network for participants using the commercial cross-platform service, GroupMe. Each participant was linked with a small, pre-determined number of family and friends that he or she could reach out to about everyday life issues and questions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver four weeks, GroupME motivated each participant to communicate with this trusted circle of members and reduce reliance on his or her primary caregiver. The circle actively engaged and shared the responsibility for responding to the participant\u2019s queries. Primary caregivers gave positive reviews of the specialized social network, saying that they were happy with the diversity of feedback that the system provided and that the load felt lighter thanks to the help of the circle members. Results indicate that positive online interactions lead to real-life interactions between the individuals and their circle members.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~arriaga\/HongArriagaCHI13.pdf\u0022\u003E\u0022Investigating the Use of Circles in Social Networks to Support Independence of Individuals with Autism\u0022\u003C\/a\u003E, will also be presented during the SIGCHI 2013 conference.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo view research by other Georgia Tech researchers at SIGCHI, visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chi.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/chi.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESimply sending children with asthma a text message each day asking about their symptoms and providing knowledge about their condition can lead to improved health outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Simply sending children with asthma a text message each day asking about their symptoms and providing knowledge about their condition can lead to improved health outcomes."}],"uid":"27462","created_gmt":"2013-04-30 11:10:06","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:12","author":"Liz Klipp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"210671":{"id":"210671","type":"image","title":"Dr. Rosa Arriaga","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894871","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:51","alt":"Dr. Rosa Arriaga","file":{"fid":"197046","name":"rosa_arriaga.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rosa_arriaga.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rosa_arriaga.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1763460,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rosa_arriaga.jpg?itok=_Xy4cNaH"}},"210441":{"id":"210441","type":"image","title":"Example of Asthma Text","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894871","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:51","alt":"Example of Asthma Text","file":{"fid":"196885","name":"asthma_text_2_copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asthma_text_2_copy_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asthma_text_2_copy_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":135796,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/asthma_text_2_copy_0.jpg?itok=fG8Vnwq5"}},"210451":{"id":"210451","type":"image","title":"Example of Asthma Text - 2","body":null,"created":"1449180018","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:18","changed":"1475894871","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:51","alt":"Example of Asthma Text - 2","file":{"fid":"196886","name":"asthma_text_1_copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asthma_text_1_copy_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asthma_text_1_copy_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":270567,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/asthma_text_1_copy_0.jpg?itok=1ZzSMIEe"}}},"media_ids":["210671","210441","210451"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/chi2013.acm.org\/","title":"The ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/~arriaga\/index.html","title":"Dr. Rosa Arriaga\u0027s website"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7506","name":"asthma"},{"id":"6053","name":"Autism"},{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"65461","name":"mobile health"},{"id":"11178","name":"Rosa Arriaga"},{"id":"166848","name":"School of Interactive Computing"},{"id":"169573","name":"SIGCHI 2013"},{"id":"167296","name":"social networking"},{"id":"9198","name":"texting"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["klipp@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}