Research continues to show how positive behavior change can play an important role in improving health outcomes, especially among patients with chronic conditions such as asthma and COPD. With three peer-reviewed abstracts accepted for presentation at the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) 2022 Annual Meeting on April 6-9, Propeller Health’s recent findings on patient behavior – as they relate to the pandemic, digital health use and smoking prevalence – add to this growing body of knowledge.
Read brief summaries of each abstract below or click the links to view them online.
Concerns, mask-wearing and healthcare preferences among patients with asthma and COPD during the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary: During the early stages of the pandemic, individuals with chronic respiratory conditions were considered to be at higher risk for severe COVID-19 infection. Despite this understanding, little research has been conducted to assess how patients with asthma and COPD perceived their personal risk, and how that impacted their behavior. Propeller research found that although the majority of patients – 81% with asthma and 76% with COPD – indicated that they were concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic, most were still willing to seek in-person medical attention for urgent care as necessary. Additionally, a large portion of patients reported that they continued to fill their inhaler prescriptions in person.
Improvement in productivity and short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) use among patients with asthma using a digital health platform
Summary: Asthma accounts for millions of missed days of school and work annually.1 Propeller and other digital health platforms can support patient self-management through monitoring of medication-taking behaviors, including SABA inhaler medication use. Among patients with asthma who enrolled in Propeller, we observed increases in self-reported activity at home, school and work in addition to reduced SABA usage over three months.
Global projections for smoking prevalence, 1990–2050: A comparison between developed and developing countries
Summary: Smoking prevalence is an important predictor of future health outcomes globally, and a growing number of countries have committed to taking actions to reduce tobacco smoking rates among their populations. Although global smoking prevalence has generally trended downward, measuring the success of mitigation efforts – in addition to understanding how this pattern varies by gender and country development status – will be challenging since no global projections exist for 2050. Using nationally representative databases, Propeller found that smoking is more prevalent in developed countries than in developing countries, regardless of gender. While smoking prevalence is projected to continue its decline by 2050, the number of tobacco smokers worldwide may increase due to population growth, possibly reaching 1.6 billion smokers in 2050.
For any questions about Propeller’s peer-reviewed clinical research, please reach out to help@propellerhealth.com.
1 CDC (2013). Asthma Facts: CDC’s National Asthma Control Program Grantees.