• Anne Casset, Marion Meunier-Spitz, Pauline Rebotier, Hassina Lefèvre, Christian Barth, Christiane Heitz, and Frédéric de Blay.
• Laboratory of Conception and Application of Bioactive Molecules, CNRS-University of Strasbourg , Faculty of Pharmacy, Illkirch , France .
• J Asthma. 2014 Nov 1; 51 (9): 964-73.

ObjectiveIn a 1999 survey, community pharmacists from the Alsace region of France had a reasonably good knowledge of asthma treatment and prevention, but their skill in the use of asthma inhalation devices left room for improvement. Since then, health authorities have encouraged the involvement of community pharmacists in patient care and education in order to improve asthma control. The aim of this study was to assess the change in the knowledge of asthma management and inhaler technique skills of community pharmacists in the same geographic area after a 10-year interval.MethodsIn 2009, 86 randomly selected community pharmacists from the Alsace region answered a standardized questionnaire about their theoretical knowledge of and practical attitude toward asthma management and inhaled delivery systems, following which their skills in the use of four inhalation devices (pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) with/without a spacer, breath-actuated pMDI and dry powder inhaler (DPI)) were evaluated.ResultsVery few pharmacists were required to manage an acute asthma exacerbation at the pharmacy, but all responded well by administering a short-acting inhaled β2-agonist. Theoretical knowledge of asthma management (criteria of severity of asthma exacerbation, guidelines and drugs triggering asthma exacerbations) was still average. Compared with 1999, they were twice as confident in demonstrating inhaler use, and their skills in using the pMDI, breath-actuated pMDI and DPI had improved significantly (p < 0.001).ConclusionsSince 1999, pharmacists' skill in the use of inhalers has improved, but theoretical knowledge of asthma management is still average, pointing to the importance of continuing pharmaceutical education.

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