A study published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, has shown to successfully reduce symptoms of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) using a new artificial intelligence (AI) app, developed by digital therapeutics company Kaia Health.
COPD is an umbrella term to describe chronic lung diseases that cause limitations in lung airflow. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 64 million people are diagnosed with COPD and it will be the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.
Users who completed 20 therapy days with the Kaia COPD app had a clinically significant benefit in their health-related quality of life (HRQL) scores, a medical marker of perceived physical health, compared to their baseline values. After this short period, the digital intervention improved their scores in other areas, including emotion, mastery and fatigue. This suggests that a multidisciplinary digital treatment can contribute to improvements in important areas of successfully self-managing COPD after a short course.
Unlike traditional inpatient therapies, the Kaia COPD app is widely accessible which means more people globally can benefit. The new digital treatment combines physiotherapy, psychosocial support, and patient education, resulting in effective and affordable pulmonary rehabilitation in the comfort of a patient’s home. This is particularly important in developed countries with ageing populations and rapidly increasing healthcare costs.
The Kaia COPD app follows an approach that addresses physical and psychological factors of the disease. The content is based on clinically validated patient guidelines and allows patients to better self-manage their COPD. The app includes video-based AI physiotherapy which offers exercises to help patients build muscle and promote a healthy cardiovascular system, while a machine learning algorithm adjusts the support based on each patient’s disease profile.
