Asthma, a common chronic respiratory disease among children and adults, affects more than 200 million people worldwide and causes about 450,000 deaths each year. Machine learning is increasingly applied in healthcare to assist health practitioners in decision-making. In asthma management, machine learning excels in performing well-defined tasks, such as diagnosis, prediction, medication, and management. However, there remain uncertainties about how machine learning can be applied to predict asthma exacerbation. This study aimed to systematically review recent applications of machine learning techniques in predicting the risk of asthma attacks to assist asthma control and management. A total of 860 studies were initially identified from five databases. After the screening and full-text review, 20 studies were selected for inclusion in this review. The review considered recent studies published from January 2010 to February 2023. The 20 studies used machine learning techniques to support future asthma risk prediction by using various data sources such as clinical, medical, biological, and socio-demographic data sources, as well as environmental and meteorological data. While some studies considered prediction as a category, other studies predicted the probability of exacerbation. Only a group of studies applied prediction windows. The paper proposes a conceptual model to summarise how machine learning and available data sources can be leveraged to produce effective models for the early detection of asthma attacks. The review also generated a list of data sources that other researchers may use in similar work. Furthermore, we present opportunities for further research and the limitations of the preceding studies.

Length of stay (LOS) is a key indicator of healthcare quality and reflects the burden on the healthcare system. However, limited studies have used machine learning to predict LOS in asthma. This study aimed to explore the characteristics and associations between asthma-related admission data variables with LOS and to use those factors to predict LOS. A dataset of asthma-related admissions in the Auckland region was analysed using different statistical techniques. Using those predictors, machine learning models were built to predict LOS. Demographic, diagnostic, and temporal factors were associated with LOS. Māori females had the highest average LOS among all the admissions at 2.8 days. The random forest algorithm performed well, with an RMSE of 2.48, MAE of 1.67, and MSE of 6.15. The mean predicted LOS by random forest was 2.6 days with a standard deviation of 1.0. The other three algorithms were also acceptable in predicting LOS. Implementing more robust machine learning classifiers, such as artificial neural networks, could outperform the models used in this study. Future work to further develop these models with other regions and to identify the reasons behind the shorter and longer stays for asthma patients is warranted.

Background: Asthma is a significant global health issue, impacting over 500,000 individuals in New Zealand and disproportionately affecting Māori communities in New Zealand, who experience worse asthma symptoms and attacks. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models, are increasingly popular for asthma risk prediction. However, these AI models may underrepresent minority ethnic groups and introduce bias, potentially exacerbating disparities. Objective: This study aimed to explore the views and perceptions that Māori have toward using AI and ML technologies for asthma self-management, identify key considerations for developing asthma attack risk prediction models, and ensure Māori are represented in ML models without worsening existing health inequities. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 Māori participants with asthma, 3 male and 17 female, aged 18-76 years. All the interviews were conducted one-on-one, except for 1 interview, which was conducted with 2 participants. Altogether, 10 web-based interviews were conducted, while the rest were kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face). A thematic analysis was conducted to identify the themes. Further, sentiment analysis was carried out to identify the sentiments using a pretrained Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers model. Results: We identified four key themes: (1) concerns about AI use, (2) interest in using technology to support asthma, (3) desired characteristics of AI-based systems, and (4) experience with asthma management and opportunities for technology to improve care. AI was relatively unfamiliar to many participants, and some of them expressed concerns about whether AI technology could be trusted, kanohi ki te kanohi interaction, and inadequate knowledge of AI and technology. These concerns are exacerbated by the Māori experience of colonization. Most of the participants were interested in using technology to support their asthma management, and we gained insights into user preferences regarding computer-based health care applications. Participants discussed their experiences, highlighting problems with health care quality and limited access to resources. They also mentioned the factors that trigger their asthma control level. Conclusions: The exploration revealed that there is a need for greater information about AI and technology for Māori communities and a need to address trust issues relating to the use of technology. Expectations in relation to computer-based applications for health purposes were expressed. The research outcomes will inform future investigations on AI and technology to enhance the health of people with asthma, in particular those designed for Indigenous populations in New Zealand.

Exploring factors that increase the risk of asthma attacks is crucial for timely patient management. Machine learning (ML) techniques are increasingly used for risk prediction. This study aimed to identify risk factors for asthma attacks in New Zealand and evaluate ML algorithms' performance in predicting these risks. National health datasets from 355,113 patients aged 6 years and older with asthma were analyzed from 2008 to 2016. The outcome was the occurrence of an asthma attack within 3 months. Two ML models, XGBoost and Random Forest, and a statistical model, Logistic Regression (LR), were developed and performance compared. Key risk predictors included prior asthma attacks, length of winter exposure, and the number of ICS and SABA inhalers. XGB with random under-sampling performed slightly better (AUROC=0.76, F1 score=0.33). ML models performed slightly better than LR-RUS (AUROC=0.75, F1 score=0.32) in predicting asthma attacks. Future research should explore other ML and data imbalance handling techniques to enhance risk prediction.