Table 1.

Search strategy

		Inclusion and exclusion criteria, data range, and sources of searches
PICOS search strategy
	Population	Adults and teenagers with asthma. We excluded young children because (i) the format of effective self-management in preschool children is unclear, and (ii) the dynamics of ICT use are likely to be different if the parent is taking responsibility. We did not set an absolute age threshold, but included any intervention in which the primary target is the person with asthma (as opposed to a parent); we anticipated this would include teenagers 12 years and over. Studies of multiple conditions were included if data specifically about people with asthma could be extracted.
	Intervention	Any ICT intervention with any currently available device, such as smartphone, tablet, smart TV, or computer, to support self-management of asthma. We did not include interventions where the only ICT component was a telephone as an alternative mode of delivery of a consultation or to impart information (eg, with an educational video), unless there was ongoing facilitation of self-management.
	Comparator	Patients who were not provided with or did not have access to the ICT system to support their asthma self-management.
	Outcomes	Clinical effectiveness (asthma control, acute exacerbations, intermediate outcomes such as self- efficacy). Adoption of ICT was assessed by proportion downloading the apps or taking up the intervention, ownership of action plans. Adherence to ICT intervention was assessed by system usage frequency, withdrawals.
	Settings	Any health care setting.
	Study design	Studies were included if they were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasiexperimental studies.
PICOS search strategy
	Other exclusion criteria	We excluded papers not published in English.
	Date range	The date range for all searches was January 1, 2000, to January 1, 2015, with an updated search in April 2016.
	Databases	MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, AMED, BNI, Cochrane Library (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), Web of Science Core Collection, and ISI Proceedings (SCI-EXPANDE, SSC, A&HCI, CPCI-S, CPCI-SSH, BKCI-S, BKCI-SSH), ScienceDirect.
	Manual searching	Journal of Medical Internet Research (2010–2015), Journal of Asthma (2010–2015), Journal of Telemedicine and e-Health (2010–2015).
	Forward citations	A forward citation search was performed on all included papers using International Statistical Institute Proceedings (Web of Science). The bibliographies of all eligible studies were scrutinized to identify additional possible studies.
	Unpublished and in-progress studies	UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and Meta Register of Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com).
	Definition	ICT, defined as any information and communication technology consisting of communication devices, software, apps, and Web applications, to allow duplex communication between medical professionals, patients, and carers in order to support asthma self-management. Communication device, defined as any communication hardware such as 3G mobile phone, tablet, computer, smart TV, 2G mobile phone, or landline telephone, to allow duplex communication.