Supplementary Material for: Implementation of the MASK-Air® App for Rhinitis and Asthma in Older Adults: MASK@Puglia Pilot Study

Introduction: MASK-air® is an app whose aim is to reduce the global burden of allergic rhinitis and asthma. A transfer of innovative practices was performed to disseminate and implement MASK-air® in European regions. The aim of the study was to examine the implementation of the MASK-air® app in older adults of the Puglia TWINNING in order to investigate (i) the rate of acceptance in this population, (ii) the reasons for refusal and (iii) the evaluation of the app after its use. Methods: All consecutive geriatric patients aged between 65 and 90 years were included by the outpatient clinic of the Bari Geriatric Immunoallergology Unit. After a 1-h training session, older adults used the app for 6 months. A 6-item questionnaire was developed by our unit to evaluate the impact of the app on the management of the disease and its treatment. Results: Among the 174 recruited patients, 102 accepted to use the app (mean age, SD: 72.4 ± 4.6 years), 6 were lost to follow-up, and 63 had a low education level. The reasons given not to use the app included lack of interest (11%), lack of access to a smartphone or tablet (53%), low computer literacy (28%), and distrust (8%). At follow-up, the overall satisfaction was high (89%), the patient considered MASK-air® “advantageous” (95%), compliance to treatment was improved (81%), and the rate of loss to follow-up had decreased to 6%. Conclusion: Older adults with a low level of education can use the MASK-air® app after a short training session.引言：MASK-air®是一款旨在减轻全球变应性鼻炎与哮喘疾病负担的移动应用程序。本研究通过创新实践转移，在欧洲各地区推广并落地MASK-air®应用。本次研究旨在考察MASK-air®在普利亚TWINNING项目老年人群中的实施情况，具体探究三方面内容：(i) 该人群对应用的接受率；(ii) 拒绝使用的原因；(iii) 用户使用后的应用评价。方法：研究对象为巴里老年免疫过敏科门诊纳入的所有连续就诊的65~90岁老年患者。受试者接受1小时的操作培训后，使用该应用程序为期6个月。本研究团队开发了一份包含6个条目的调查问卷，用于评估该应用对疾病管理与治疗的影响。结果：本次共招募174例患者，其中102例同意使用该应用（平均年龄±标准差：72.4±4.6岁），6例失访，63例受教育水平较低。拒绝使用该应用的原因包括：缺乏使用意愿（11%）、无法获取智能手机或平板电脑（53%）、计算机操作能力不足（28%）以及对应用的不信任（8%）。随访结果显示，受试者总体满意度较高（89%），95%的使用者认为MASK-air®具有应用优势，81%的受试者表示治疗依从性得到改善，失访率降至6%。结论：经短期培训后，受教育水平较低的老年群体亦可正常使用MASK-air®应用。