Perceptions, practices, and experiences of asthma patients and community pharmacists on short-acting beta-2 agonists inhaler use: A qualitative study

Most asthma patients and community pharmacists agreed that good asthma control was associated with reduced SABA usage and minimum asthma symptoms. The majority of patients claimed that visiting physicians for asthma follow-up reviews was unnecessary. Moreover, community pharmacists have raised concerns regarding patients' reliance on SABA inhalers due to the immediate relief effects, however, the majority of interviewed patients claimed that they did not rely on SABA inhalers. Additionally, community pharmacists were generally concerned about the frequency, dosage, and techniques using SABA inhalers. These concerns need to be addressed to improve the safe use of SABA inhalers. Language barriers, health literacy, long waiting times, and public education were the most important believed determinants of the safe use of SABA inhalers.