Faulty Technique of Inhaler Use among Patients with Uncontrolled Asthma Presenting to A Tertiary Care Hospital

1 reversible hindrance of flow of air into the lungs.Approximately 300 million individuals have been affected by asthma all around the globe, and this number is likely 2 to increase to 100 million more by 2025.The overall 3 prevalence of asthma is 8.41% in the United States.It is manifested as repeated episodes of dyspnea, chest tightness, wheezing and cough following exposure to 4 the allergic stimuli .Symptomatic control is the principal objective in the treatment of asthma, along with reduced visits to emergency departments for the management of 5 exacerbations of asthma and improved quality of life.Inhalation of drugs is the crucial and most frequently used method of drug administration in managing asthmatic patients.This route of drug delivery is beneficial because of the localized administration of a high dose of medicine directly into the airways, causing least 6 systematic side effects.The common ways of administering these medicines are through pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI), pMDI with spacers, dry powder AbstractObjective: 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.Methods: 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 31.376.67years.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