So therefore we plunge deeper into the problem, we tried to understand it from a couple of more people suffering from breathing ailments:
We asked them the subsequent questions:
How long have you suffered from breathing disorders?
· Since birth
· 5yrs-10yrs
· 10 yrs – above
2. What triggers your attack?
· Pollution
· Stress
· Change of weather
· Common cold/Flu
3. What kind of inhaler/puffer do you use?
· Metered dose inhaler
· Bronchodilator
· Nebulizer
4. Have you ever come across a situation where you are under an attack and you are left with an empty inhaler, as you did not come to know when the medicine got over?
· Yes
· No
5. Does you asthma medicine leave your mouth dry and bitter, would you prefer flavored medicine?
· Yes
· No
6. Would like to stay connected with your doctor, regarding to go to his updates on change of medicine or dosage without having to go to his clinic every time.
· Yes
· No
7. Are you satisfied with your medicine or puffer?
· Extremely satisfied
· Just about satisfied
· Not at all satisfied
8. How does it feel when you’re under an attack?
9. Would you like to try out a redesigned inhaler?
Yes
No
Patient - male age- 57 yrs
“ For me, i get two different feelings. One is the pain i get in my chest. It feels like something is squashing my lungs and it really hurts and only feels better if i can get air in. The other thing is the inability to get air into my lungs. I feel like there is almost something stuck in throat stopping me from getting air in and like my lungs are being compressed. You struggle really hard to get air in and it really tires you out because you are trying to force air into your lungs and only a little of it will go in. I have sports induced asthma and that really is appalling because it makes it hard for me to exercise hard. I also get asthma from changes in temp (as in walking from outside where it is hot into an air conditioned room) when i am sick with a cold or when i eat something im alergic to such as the mould in blue vein cheese. Lol so i really dont have a fun time, but i manage, have been doing it for years”
Metered dose inhaler - 73%
After the survey we found out the following
Q1
54% - Since birth
33% - 5yrs-10yrs
13% - 10yrs+
Q2
Here
1 : Pollution
2 : Stress
3 : Change of weather
4 : Common cold/flu
5 : Others
Q3
Bronchodilator - 7 %
Nebulizer - 20%
Q4
Empty inhaler situation - yes (1)
Empty inhaler situation - No (2)
Q5
Flavored medicine - Yes (1)
Non Flavored Medicine - No (2)
Q6
Stay connected- yes (1)
Not connected - No(2)
Q7
40%- extremely satisfied
33%-Just about satisfied
27%-Not at all satisfied
Q9
Current inhaler - No (1)
Redesign inhaler - Yes(2)
Most of the patients had the same experience
Currently the most commonly used inhaler is the metered dose inhaler
The difficulty faced by most people as told my patients and Doctor who treats them:
Ø Patient cannot take inhalers properly because of poor device technique (across the continuum)
Ø Patient does not know how to detect when MDI canister is empty
Ø Patient cannot detect when Pulmicort, Oxeze or Bricanlyl Turbuhalers are empty because of lack of education or cognition around correctly detecting product emptiness
Ø Patient not aware that they have 0 refills remaining and must see the doctor
Ø Patient physically unable to go to doctor’s office to get inhaler prescription refills
Ø Patient has several MDIs of each type in use unable to dose count as a result
Ø Patient cannot physically clean spacer due to physical limitations
Ø Patient chooses not to use spacer
Ø Patient cannot afford medications and rations or stops them
Ø Patient cannot take MDIs properlydue to physical disability
Ø Polypharmacy
Ø Cultural and literacy issues
Ø Patient taking or being given empty or outdated MDI’s
Ø Follow-up for inhaler usage is neglected on patients who have difficulty administering their inhalers
Ø Patient loses doses inhaled medicine schedules and medication instructions
Ø Patients fires multiple puffs into spacer (across the continuum)
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