EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTION BY PRACTICE ASSISTANTS ON INHALER TECHNIQUE AND RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS OF PATIENTS - A CONTROLLED RANDOMIZED VIDEOTAPED INTERVENTION STUDY

Background. Many patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease use their medication inhalers incorrectly. General practition ers, pharmacists and other health care providers do not always have th e opportunity to instruct patients in correct inhaler technique. Objec tive. To find out whether the inhaler technique and respiratory sympto ms of patients can be improved after instruction by practice assistant s. Methods. Single blind, randomized intervention study in which 48 pa tients who had been using a dry powder inhaler for at least one month took part. Their inhaler technique was videotaped on two visits with a two-week interval between visits. The inhaler technique on the videos was subsequently scored by two experts on nine criteria. At both visi ts the patients completed a questionnaire about their respiratory symp toms. After the first video, 25 patients were randomly chosen to recei ve instruction from one of six practice assistants who had followed a one evening course about inhaler instruction, and who had been issued an instruction-set. Results. The patients who received instruction had a significantly greater reduction in number of mistakes at the second visit than the patients who did not (P = 0.01). The instructed patien ts also reported less dyspnoea at the second visit (P = 0.03). No effe ct of instruction was found on wheezing, cough and sputum production. Conclusion. The inhaler technique of patients can be improved signific antly by the instruction of patients by trained practice assistants, p ossibly resulting in less dyspnoea.