JPSIM Journal of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine J Pak Soc Intern Med 2709-8729 2710-0804 Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine 10.70302/jpsim.v5i3.2448 jpsim.v5i3.2448 Original Research Faulty Technique of Inhaler Use among Patients with Uncontrolled Asthma Presenting to A Tertiary Care Hospital Irfan Hafiz Muhammad irfannazir15@yahoo.com * Yousaf Sadaf Riaz Muhammad Kazi Asma Rizwan Hafiz Muhammad Malik Irfan Rashid Anjum Department of Medicine, Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital, Lahore Choudhry Muhammad Akram Teaching and Research Hospital, Lahore, Pulmonology Department, Lahore General Hospital. *Correspondence: Hafiz Muhammad Irfan (irfannazir15@yahoo.com) 30 08 2024 2024 5 3 600 604 05 04 2024 07 08 2024 Copyright © 2024 The Author(s) 2024 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective

To determine the frequency of faulty technique of inhaler use and the factors associated with it in uncontrolled asthmatic patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital.

 Methodology

A cross-sectional study was carried out at Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital, Lahore, from 23-07-2023 to 23-02-2024. Data was gathered utilizing consecutive sampling. A total of 100 patients with uncontrolled asthma presenting to Arif Memorial Teaching Hospital Lahore and satisfying the selection criteria were taken. Demographic information was noted on the pro forma. All the patients were asked to demonstrate use of inhaler and were assessed for proper technique according to the checklist.

 Results

In the present study, there was a total of 100 cases out of which 61 (61.0%) were males and 39 (39.0%) were females. The mean age of the participants was 31.37±6.67 years. Faulty technique was seen in 48 (48.0%) of the cases. No significant difference was observed in terms of gender; however, it was seen more in females (51.28%), p= 0.89. This faulty technique was more in cases with age group 15 to 39 years where it was seen in 52.63% of the cases, p = 0.09. Faulty technique was high in cases with metered-dose inhaler type of inhalers as compared to metered-dose inhaler + spacer; 66.67% vs 11.76%, p < 0.001. This difference was also significant in cases that had no schooling (92.59%), p= 0.01. Family income less than 10,000 per month was also associated with high number of cases with faulty technique (86.36%), p= 0.01.

 Conclusion

Faulty technique is observed in approximately half of the cases and this difference is statistically significant in cases that had metered-dose inhaler type of inhaler usage, have no schooling and monthly income less than 10,000 per month

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