Benefit of hospital pharmacy intervention on the current status of dry powder inhaler technique in patients with asthma and COPD: a study from the Central Development Region, Nepal

Background The majority of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been known to perform inhaler technique inadequately. We aimed to evaluate the benefit of hospital pharmacy intervention on the current status of dry powder inhaler (Rotahaler®) technique in such patients and the factors associated with the correct use. Methods A pre-post interventional study was conducted at the outpatient pharmacy in a teaching hospital of the Central Development Region, Nepal, in patients with asthma and COPD currently using a Rotahaler device. Patients' demographics and Rotahaler technique were assessed before intervention. Those who failed to demonstrate the correct technique were educated and trained by the pharmacist, and their technique was reassessed after 2 weeks of intervention. Descriptive statistics, including Wilcoxon signed rank test, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlations and Kruskal-Wallis test, were performed for statistical analysis. Results Before intervention, only 5.7% (10 of 174) of the patients demonstrated the correct Rotahaler technique and the most common errors observed were failure to breathe out gently before inhalation (98.8%) and failure to hold breath for about 10 seconds after inhalation (84.8%). After the intervention (n=164), 67.1% of the patients showed their technique correctly (p≤0.001) and failure to breathe out gently before inhalation was the most common error (27.44%). Age (p=0.003), previous instruction (p=0.007), patient's education level (p=0.013) and source of instruction (p<0.001) were associated with an appropriate technique before intervention, while age (p=0.024), duration of therapy (p=0.010) and gender (p=0.008) were the factors correlated with correct usage after intervention. Conclusion The current status of Rotahaler technique is inadequate in patients with asthma and COPD attending the Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital in the Central Development Region, Nepal. However, a single hospital pharmacy intervention can significantly improve the correct use of the technique, highlighting the role of hospital pharmacies in the improvement of inhaler technique.