Practice regarding Rotahaler Inhalation Technique among Patients of Selected Ward of Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: A rotahaler is a plastic inhalation device which is breath activated, which means while inhalation the rotahaler releases medication from the rotacap. A rotahaler has been developed over the last two decades for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is particularly useful in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. The medication is commonly held either in a capsule for manual loading or a proprietary from inside the inhaler. There are various techniques of rotainhaler; once loaded or actuated, the operator put mouthpiece of inhaler into their mouth and takes a sharp, deep inhalation, holding their breath for 5-10 second. The study aimed to assess the practice regarding rotahaler inhalation technique among patients of selected ward of tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to assess practice regarding rotahaler inhalation technique among patients of selected ward of tertiary care hospital. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select 42 sample for the study. A Structured questionnaire was used to assess socio-demographic characteristics and observational checklist was used to assess inhalation technique. Collected data were analyzed by using descriptive as well as inferential statistics.

Results: The main findings of the study showed that less than one fourth (23.8%) of the patients had done correct technique and majority (76.2%) of the patients had done incorrect technique. There was significant association between level of practice regarding rotahaler inhalation technique with age with p value 0.000*, sex with p value 0.041*, place of residence with p value 0.026* and occupation of the patients with p value 0.009*.

Conclusions: The findings concluded that majority of patients had incorrect practice. For the improvement of practice regarding rotahaler inhalation technique among patients in the hospital setting there is crucial part of patient education and counselling about the rotahaler inhalation technique.