Abstract
Background: Poor adherence to inhaler therapy is a dilemma as it decreases the chance of achieving and maintaining a proper asthma or COPD control.
The purpose was to increase adherence to treatment through the development of educational intervention (EI) for asthma and COPD, addressed to patients and general practitioners (GP).
Material and Method: The educational program was carried out in five Romanian hospitals and includes educational session groups and educational materials. The results were assessed through TAI (Test of Adherence to Inhalers) questionnaire.
Results: 347 GP and 435 patients were included. 76% GPs considered the risk of non-adherence related to difficulty of using inhaled medication, illness perceptions, fear of adverse effects, financial nature (20%). Only 44% GPs discuss with pulmonologist about their patient's disease. On the other hand, 57% GPs check the inhalation technique of their patients.
Before the EI, only 32% of patients had a good adherence score to therapy; this percentage increases to 57% after EI. The most common reasons for non-adherence were: patient forgets to administer daily his inhalation medication (49%), fear of adverse effects (33%), belief that medication is useless (26%) and fear that inhalation medication affects daily life patient (24%).
Conclusion: The most influenced behaviors as a result of the educational intervention were psychological component (85%), fear of the adverse events (82%) and social component (79%).
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 2673.
This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2020