Innovative Digital Marker Enhances Childhood Asthma Detection

Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine have developed a novel, more accurate, and cost-effective method to predict asthma diagnoses in children by leveraging electronic health records (EHR). This innovative approach utilizes a passive digital marker, derived from routinely collected medical data, to better identify children at risk for asthma, enabling earlier intervention and management. The new tool builds upon the Pediatric Asthma Risk Score, adapted to create a scalable digital solution that requires no additional effort from healthcare providers.

Published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, the study was led by Dr. Arthur Owora, an associate professor of pediatrics and research scientist at Regenstrief Institute. The digital marker demonstrated higher accuracy than traditional risk scores in predicting asthma diagnoses between ages 4 and 11, based on the analysis of nearly 70,000 children's records from the Indiana Network of Patient Care database.

Owora emphasized that early detection through this passive marker could significantly improve health outcomes by facilitating timely preventive measures such as allergen avoidance, medication initiation, and patient education. The researchers plan to conduct a randomized clinical trial to evaluate whether this digital marker increases early diagnoses and shortens the diagnostic timeline.

According to co-author Dr. Malaz Boustani, this scalable technological innovation can integrate seamlessly into clinical workflows, offering the potential for widespread public health benefits. If successful, the initiative may be expanded to state or national levels, ultimately aiming to improve asthma management among high-risk children and reduce healthcare costs associated with delayed diagnosis and severe disease progression.