• Allergy · Apr 1999

    Turbutest in the training of asthmatic Turbuhaler users.

    • M Branco Ferreira, A Santos, M H Clode, and A G Palma Carlos.
    • Immunoallergology Unit, Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal.
    • Allergy. 1999 Apr 1;54(4):375-9.

    BackgroundCorrect utilization of inhalation devices is a key factor in asthma management. Objective assessment of the ability to use inhaler devices is therefore fundamental.MethodsThe objective was to assess objectively the inhalation technique of Turbuhaler users who reported having no difficulty in using such a device. A total of 600 asthmatic patients of our allergology outpatient department, daily users of Turbuhaler devices, were evaluated with Turbutest. This is a simple portable apparatus which connects a Turbuhaler inhaler with an electronic device to allow semiquantitative assessment of inhalation technique, with a score ranging from 0 (worst) to 3 (best), readily visualized on the apparatus. Patients were allowed to practice with Turbutest, assisted by an allergologist, until they improved their scores. A second Turbutest assessment was performed at a 2-month follow-up visit.ResultsOn the first assessment, one-third of the patients had scores inadequate to allow a good inhalation, and only 20% achieved a score of 3. On the second assessment, significantly higher Turbutest scores were observed.ConclusionsTurbutest is a valuable tool in asthmatic patients' training, allowing identification and improvement of an inadequate inhalation technique with Turbuhaler.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.