This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mehuys, E. Articles by Brusselle, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Mehuys, E. Articles by Brusselle, G.

From the authors

¹ Pharmaceutical Care Unit, and ² Dept of Respiratory Diseases, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.

H.K. Reddel and co-workers refer to a paper by Basheti et al. 1, describing a pharmacist intervention targeting only dry powder inhaler technique and taking 2.5 min per visit. First, we agree that ideally this intervention should be delivered to all asthma patients. Our intervention comprised more than just inhaler technique, as we also delivered education about asthma management, medication adherence and smoking cessation at visit 1, and advice on the function of the patient’s current Asthma Control Test® (ACT) score at visits 2 and 3 (see table 1 of reference 2). Since this multi-faceted approach is more time consuming (20–30 min at visit 1 and 5–10 min at later visits), it should be delivered especially to those asthma patients who need it the most, i.e. the patients who are not well controlled (having an ACT score <20).

Secondly, we agree that inhaler technique should not only be checked in uncontrolled patients but also in controlled patients. A regular check of inhaler technique in well-controlled patients may indeed allow dose reduction of inhaled corticosteroids.

Statement of interest

None declared.

REFERENCES

1. Basheti IA, Reddel HK, Armour CL, Bosnic-Anticevich SZ. Improved asthma outcomes with a simple inhaler technique intervention by community pharmacists. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2007;119:1537–1538.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
2. Mehuys E, Van Bortel L, De Bolle L, et al. Effectiveness of pharmacist intervention for asthma control improvement. Eur Respir J 2008;31:790–799.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mehuys, E. Articles by Brusselle, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Mehuys, E. Articles by Brusselle, G.