Asthma, COPD
Conditions
Keywords
Nebulizers and Vaporizers
Brief summary
Introduction COPD and Asthma affect more than 10% of the population. Most patients use their inhaler incorrectly, mainly the elderly, thereby becoming more susceptible to poor clinical control and exacerbations. Placebo device training is regarded as one of the best teaching methods, but there is scarce evidence to support it as the most effective one to improve major clinical outcomes. Our objective is to perform a single-blinded RCT to assess the impact of this education tool in these patients. Methods and Analysis A multicentre single-blinded RCT will be set, comparing a placebo-device training programme versus usual care, with a one-year follow-up, in elderly patients with Asthma or COPD. Intervention will be provided at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months, with interim analysis at an intermediate time point. Exacerbation rates were set as primary outcomes, and quality of life, adherence rates, clinical control and respiratory function were chosen as secondary outcomes. A sample size of 146 participants (73 in each arm) was estimated as adequate to detect a 50% reduction in event rates. Two-sample proportions Chi-squared test will be used to study primary outcome and subgroup analysis will be carried out according to major baseline characteristics. Discussion The investigators expect to confirm that inhaler performance education will significantly reduce exacerbation rate and improve clinical and functional control. Ethics and dissemination: Every participant will sign a consent form. A Data Safety Monitoring Board will be set up to evaluate data throughout the study and to monitor stop earlier criteria. Identity of all participants will be protected. Results will be presented in scientific meeting and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALInhaler technique education
Teaching of inhalers use with placebo devices in real training
Sponsors
Aveiro-Aradas Family Health Unit
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Blinding for the investigator that acess outcomes, that will not be involved in the intervention process.
Intervention model description
Two arms single blinded randomised controlled trial with a 1 year follow up
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 130 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Patients with a diagnosis of COPD or Asthma, medicated with any kind of inhaler device (pressurized Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) with or without Spacer, Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) or Soft Mist), aged ≥65 years and being a regular user of primary health care services (defined as having at least one consultation performed in the last two years with his/her own Family Doctor). In order to minimize diagnostic inaccuracy, Asthma and COPD diagnosis will be reviewed in every participant at baseline prior to enrolment and according to GINA and GOLD strategies.
Exclusion criteria
* Severe or acute illness (such as unstable cardiovascular status, unstable angina, recent myocardial infarction (within one month) or pulmonary embolism, haemoptysis of unknown origin, recent pneumothorax (within one month), recent thoracic, abdominal or eye surgery (within one month), acute nausea or vomiting, severe respiratory distress, dementia). Patients with intermittent asthma, as well as COPD patients with mild obstruction (GOLD class I) will be excluded, since these patients do not need to take inhaler medication on a daily basis, and tend to have a low frequency of disease exacerbations.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adverse events | Evaluation at 12 months. | This outcome will be quantifyed as time to event For Asthma, an event will be defined as increased respiratory clinical symptoms leading the patient to search for medical care, and resulting in any of the following: * Need for increased inhaled corticosteroid dose of at least 4x the regular dose * Need for increase of short-acting β2 agonists on a daily basis * Need for oral corticosteroids * Need for oral antibiotics * Hospitalization or Emergency Room (ER) visit with increased respiratory clinical symptoms. For COPD, an event will be defined as increased respiratory clinical symptoms inducing the patient to search for medical care, and resulting in any of the following: * Need for increase of long-acting β2 agonists on a daily basis * Need for oral corticosteroids * Need for oral antibiotics * Hospitalization or ER visit with increased respiratory clinical symptoms. Respiratory-related mortality and all-cause mortality will also be considered an adverse event. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adherence rate | Evaluation at 12 months. | Adherence rate using the Brief Medication Questionnaire \[scale from 0 (best) to 11 (worst) points\] |
| Clinical assessment | Evaluation at 12 months | COPD Assessment Tools (CAT) \[scale from 0 (worst) to 40 (best) points\] |
| Quality of Life | Evaluation at 12 months. | Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) \[scale from 32 (worst) to 224 (best) points\] |
| Functional control | Evaluation at 12 months. | Functional control using FEV1 in liters. |
| Inhaler technique performance | Evaluation at 12 months. | Number of errors in inhaler technique (that will be standardized to a score up to 100% scale) \[To evaluate inhaler technique performance with each device, the Aerosol Drug Management Improvement Team (ADMIT) protocols and guidelines will be used, evaluating all the recommended steps for inhaler use on each one of them. For those devices that do not have any protocol from the ADMIT group, investigators will use the recommendations from the manufacture's Summary of Product Characteristics. |
Outcome results
None listed