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Performance and Adherence in Children Using Spacers

OUtcome Following Tailored Education and Retraining: Studying Performance and Adherence in ChildrEn and Young People With Asthma: a Randomised Feasibility Study

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05366309
Acronym
OUTER-SPACERS
Enrollment
43
Registered
2022-05-09
Start date
2022-09-01
Completion date
2026-12-31
Last updated
2026-03-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Asthma, Asthma in Children

Brief summary

Asthma is a common disease which causes swelling in the airways, making it difficult to breathe. Asthma is common in children, affecting 1 in 11 children in the UK. Asthma is treated with inhalers which reduce the swelling. If inhalers are taken correctly they can help keep symptoms under control, allowing asthma sufferers to go about their day with less chance of having an asthma attack. Many patients have been found to not take their inhalers correctly and either under use (which leads to poor control of symptoms) or over use (which leads to potential side effects). Although asthma in most patients can be controlled with inhalers, not using inhalers correctly is one of the most common causes of poor control. This is common in children and young people (CYP) with all severities of asthma, resulting in high burden on the families and healthcare systems. The biggest challenge facing doctors and nurses helping CYP with asthma is finding a way to ensure that they take the medication. Whilst there are many studies looking into inhaler use, there are no large studies about how inhalers are used between clinic visits in CYP with asthma. The Smart Spacer is monitoring device which allows doctors to monitor when and how effectively inhalers are being used. This study wants to find out how well this device works, how well and how often CYP are using their inhalers, and if tailored education improves asthma control. To do this, participants in the study will be randomly selected to have "tailored education" or "standard care education". The investigators are inviting 100 children and young people (CYP) aged 6-18 years who have asthma to join this study.

Interventions

Tailored Education: A delegated investigator will review the SD memory card data and share the results with the participant and/or parent/guardian. The investigator will explain whether there are partial or critical errors to inhalation technique that have been recorded. The participant will be informed about their overall adherence; including how and when they used their asthma medications. If errors in medication use are identified, specific coaching will be provided to help eliminate errors.

OTHERStandard care education

Participants randomised to this group will receive usual care in terms of their education.

Sponsors

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
6 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Aged 6-18 years; * Attending secondary care with a diagnosis of asthma; * Willing and able to give fully informed consent, or, participants having an acceptable individual capable of giving consent on the participant's behalf (e.g. parent or guardian of a child under 16 years of age); * Able to perform lung function and exhaled nitric oxide measurements; * Take twice-daily preventer medication using a valved holding chamber (spacer device) i.e. inhaled corticosteroid with or without long-acting beta antagonist; * Willing and able to comply with the study procedures.

Exclusion criteria

* Significant co-existing respiratory disease (e.g. cystic fibrosis); * Currently participating in another clinical trial of an investigational medicinal product or medical device; * Non-English speaker where translation facilities are insufficient to guarantee informed consent.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Overall adherence to inhaled treatment (the product of persistence (number of doses taken as prescribed) and technique)From recruitment up until 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointOverall adherence

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
The proportion of children and young people with asthma who are eligible for participation within the study from secondary care via screening logsFrom recruitment up until 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointProportion eligible
Recruitment and attrition rates over the study via screening and enrolment logsFrom recruitment up until 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointRecruitment and attrition
The success rate of obtaining data from the Smart spacer deviceFrom recruitment up until 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointSuccess rate
Feedback from System Usability Score (SUS)At 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointSUS
Feedback from Net Promoter Score (NPS)At 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointNPS
Rate of device failure from any cause (including loss of device, inability to retrieve data from SD card)From recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointDevice failure
Asthma control test (ACT) or Childhood Asthma Control Test (c-ACT)From recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointACT
Asthma Control QuestionnaireFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointACQ
GINA control scoreFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointGINA
Salbutamol (rescue) useFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointSalbutamol use
Need for oral steroid burstFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointOral steroid burst use
m-PAQLQ scoreFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointm-PAQLQ
FEV1 z scoreFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointFEV1 z
FeNO (ppb)From recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointFeNO (ppb)
UKIG scoreFrom recruitment to 12-16 weeks follow-up time pointUKIG

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORWill Carroll

PI

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 31, 2026