Patients' insights regarding inhalers and inhalation instructions
Masataka Matsumoto Ryouta Doukuni Haruko Shinke Kaori Masuda Kazumi Kaneshiro Kiyonobu Takatsuki
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kita-harima Medical Center
Some patients are unfamiliar with inhalation procedures or refuse inhalation guidance. Therefore, we investigated how inhalation instructions are given in drug stores and inquired about patients' insights into respiratory diseases and inhalers.
Many patients wanted step-by-step inhalation instructions, every two to three months, from a doctor, for about three minutes. They were concerned about both the effects and side effects rather the inhalation procedure itself. In contrast, we found that 31% of patients were doubtful about the efficacy of the inhaler and found it tolerable to wait for a week to see results. If improvement was not achieved within a week, they tended to interrupt the treatment regimen. In addition, 35% of patients responded that they considered it unnecessary for a drug store to charge for inhalation guidance.
Inhalation instruction Inhalation procedure Inhalant Adherence
Received 5 Aug 2020 / Accepted 25 Jan 2021
AJRS, 10(3): 219-228, 2021