COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and asthma are the two most common types of lung diseases in this country. They are treated, in part, with COPD rescue inhalers, although also with a variety of other treatments. Meanwhile, a new study has found that the majority of people who have been prescribed COPD rescue inhalers do not really know how to use them. This has been published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

What Are Inhalers?

Inhalers have been designed to help people breathe normally when they experience a bout of coughing or wheezing, or if they feel short of breath. People with COPD are generally prescribed maintenance inhalers, which help slow down the progression of the disease. These inhalers have to be used several times per day to stave off the symptoms of the condition.

However, people with COPD often have flareups, at which point they need an immediate method to stop the attack. This is what COPD rescue inhalers do. If used properly, these inhalers have the potential to save somebody’s life. This is why it is worrisome that a study has now shown that about 86% of people who have been prescribed them don’t know how to use them properly. This could potentially be a fatal problem.

At present, two strategies are in place to educate users on the proper use of inhalers. The first is the brief verbal method and the second is the teach to goal method. In the latter, patients have to repeat the instructions given about how to use their inhaler in their own words, so that they demonstrate that they understand what has been said. This is in stark contrast to the brief verbal method, in which the physician simply reads out part of the manual and provides people with a copy to take home.

Through a new study with some 120 participants, 50% of patients were assigned to one strategy, and the other 50% to the other. Both groups had to use their inhaler on three occasions:

1. During the instructional session
2. After 30 days
3. After 90 days

What the study showed was that in the teach to goal group, just 11% made a mistake after 90 days, compared to 60% in the brief instruction group. Furthermore, the teach to goal group also had less incidents of needing critical care within the test period.

The same results were found using different COPD rescue inhalers as well. In both groups, there was a decline of erroneous usage after 90 days, but those in the teach to goal group declined faster than in the brief instruction group. The conclusion of this particular study was obvious, being that physicians should use the teach to goal method at all times. Not only did this ensure there were less people who did not use their inhalers properly, they also required far less critical care. Furthermore, it circumvented the problem of people being too embarrassed to admit that they suffer from some sort of illiteracy and can therefore not use the brief instruction method at all.