Digital Tool Flags Kids at Risk for Childhood Asthma

A new digital tool has been developed that can scan electronic health data records to predict which children are at risk for developing childhood asthma. The tool calculates an asthma risk score for kids based on information collected as part of their medical history. Research has shown that the tool is better at predicting which children at age 3 have a higher risk of developing childhood asthma, and that pneumonia and bronchiolitis are two of the most powerful predictors of childhood asthma.

Key Takeaways:

• The digital tool scans electronic health data records and calculates an asthma risk score for children based on their medical history.
• The tool was tested on over 69,000 Indiana children born between 2010 and 2017, and was found to be better at predicting asthma risk in children at age 3 than an earlier pediatric asthma risk score.
• Pneumonia and bronchiolitis were found to be two of the most powerful predictors of childhood asthma.
• The tool predicted asthma among 37% of children at age 3, compared to 26% using an earlier pediatric asthma risk score.
• The tool requires zero additional minutes from the clinical team, as it uses data that is already captured in the electronic health record.
• The new tool has the potential to improve early detection of asthma risk in high-risk children, allowing for earlier interventions that could improve asthma control and lessen the risk of hospitalization.
• The tool is scalable and could be widely adopted in clinical practice.
• The researchers plan to test the tool using a randomized clinical trial to see if it actually increases early diagnoses among children at high risk of asthma.

Statistics:

• 8% of over 69,000 Indiana children born between 2010 and 2017 had been diagnosed with asthma after age four.
• 37% of children at age 3 were predicted to be at high risk for asthma by the tool, compared to 26% using an earlier pediatric asthma risk score.

Sources:

• Indiana University, news release, June 11, 2025
• eClinical Medicine, recent results