According to a recent study, most patients with chronic asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary illness were unable to use inhaler properly. The ratio of people was much higher in case of older patients. Though, the study also revealed that if these patients were properly taught to handle inhalers, the error percentage dropped dramatically.

More than two hundred patients with chronic breathing problem were analyzed. These patients were asked about their familiarity with inhalers as well as asked to demonstrate its use. The study made it clear that about 52.6% comprised of patients with no proper training on how to handle the device. This error however got reduced to 23.1% when proper instructions was provided.

Most investigators discovered that one out of every three patients was simply referred to the package insert, instead of providing hands-on instruction.

The four main dry powdered inhalers used during the evaluation are:

• Aerolizer (formoterol fumerate)
• HandiHaler (tiotropium)
• Discus (salmeterol/fluticasone)
• Turbuhaler (budesonide)

Out of these inhalers, most patients found that Aerolizer the most easiest to use, as compared to other devices with a mere error rate of 9.1%. Apart from this information, the study also confirmed that older patients (60 years and more) had higher error rate than patients younger. The main reason behind this data is the lack of physical and cognitive coordination. It was also discovered that error rate of 63.6% among patients with chronic lung function was much higher than  25% in patients with normal lung function. Both these factors are believed to be independent inhaler errors.

The primary factor which helped many patients in getting used to their inhalers was demonstration to their devices. Especially, if the patients are old or have severe disease these instructions greatly help them cope with their devices. Therefore, the key message is that “if physicians don't find the time to explain these instruction,  at least someone on staff should do it.”