Researchers at the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute have developed a passive digital marker to more accurately predict which children would later be diagnosed with asthma between 4 and 11 years of age. The Indiana researchers hope to improve the early detection of asthma risk in high-risk children, allowing for earlier interventions that could improve asthma control and lessen the future risk of hospitalization. Ultimately, they plan to study whether early interventions could help prevent the disease from progressing to more severe forms, which are often associated with higher health care needs and costs.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have developed artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can help identify which children with asthma have the highest risk of serious asthma exacerbations and acute respiratory infections. The AI tools can detect those risks as early as age 3. The Mayo Clinic AI tools captured information such as symptoms and family history, which allowed the team to apply two widely used diagnostic checklists for asthma in young children. The researchers believe the study is a step closer to precision medicine in childhood asthma, where care shifts from reactive care for advanced severe asthma to prevention and early detection of high-risk patients.