Uncovering patterns of inhaler technique and reliever use: the value of objective, personalized data from a digital inhaler
Electronic inhalers provide information about patterns of routine inhaler use. During a 12-week study, 360 asthma patients using albuterol Digihaler generated 53,083 inhaler events that were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 41,528 (78%) of the recorded inhalation events were suitable for flow analysis (having a PIF ≥ 18 L/min and <120 L/min). Median PIF, inhalation volume, inhalation duration, and time to PIF for these events steadily decreased between the first and last 10 days of the study, by 5.1%, 12.6%, 15.9%, and 6.4%, respectively. Continuous short-acting beta<sub>2</sub>-agonist (SABA) overuse, defined as ≥2 SABA inhalations/week throughout the study period, was seen in 29% (n = 104) of patients. Of 260 patients with ≥1 instance of acute short-term SABA overuse, 55 (21%) had a confirmed exacerbation. Electronic recording of real-life inhaler use can capture valuable, objective information that could inform disease management and clinical decision-making.
Authors
- Michael Reich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9813-8483)
- Njira Lucia Lugogo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0235-7105)
- Sinthia Bosnic‐Anticevich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5077-8329)
- Mario Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-8994)
- Henry Chrystyn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1528-2146)
- Nabeel Farooqui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0499-2700)
- Mark L Levy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1807-3246)
- Janwillem W.H. Kocks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2760-0693)
- Randall Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5445-8119)
- Guilherme Safioti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1254-5994)
- Michael DePietro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8729-2530)
- Tanisha Hill
- Thomas Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6466-6763)
Institutions
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- University of Kansas (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (AU)
- General Practitioners Research Institute (NL)
- Teva Pharmaceuticals (Israel) (IL)
- Teva Pharmaceuticals (Netherlands) (NL)
- Observational & Pragmatic Research Institute (SG)
- Teva Pharmaceuticals (United States) (US)
- 21c Consultancy (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Royal College of General Practitioners (GB)
- Incyte (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine
- Published
- 2024-08-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00382-x
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Inhalation and Respiratory Drug Delivery
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.93
Funders
- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries