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 Parents Need Training in Inhaler Technique
Parents of young children with asthma could use more education on inhaler technique, New York researchers concluded in a Journal of Asthma article posted online Oct. 22, 2013. They used a 10-step checklist developed from national asthma guidelines to gauge inhaler technique in 169 caregivers of urban minority children between the ages of two and nine with persistent asthma. Five of the steps were considered essential for adequate delivery of medication. Caregivers who carried out seven or more of the steps correctly were deemed to have good technique, while those who carried out six or fewer were deemed to have poor technique. Only one of the caregivers carried out all 10 steps correctly and less than 4% were able to complete all 5 of the essential steps. While more than 90% of the caregivers recalled receiving instruction on inhaler technique, only 54% remembered being asked to demonstrate their technique for a health care provider. “Our study results further support the fact that caregivers need regular demonstration and evaluation of the correct technique, which could lead to improved clinical outcomes as well as reduced hospitalizations and health care costs,” concludes study author Marina Reznik, MD, MS, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Reference Evaluation of MDI-spacer utilization and technique in caregivers of urban minority children with persistent asthma. M Reznik, E Silver, Y Cao. Posted online Oct. 22, 2013, Journal of Asthma (doi: 10.3.109/02770903.2013.854379) 
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