Asthma prescribing practices of government and private doctors in Malaysia--a nationwide questionnaire survey.

A self-answered, anonymously completed questionnaire survey was performed between June 2002 and May 2003 where doctors from government and private sectors in Malaysia were invited to participate by post or during medical meetings. One hundred and sixteen government doctors and 110 private doctors provided satisfactorily completed questionnaires (effective respondent rate: 30.1%). The most preferred medications for 'first-line', 'second-line' and 'third-line' treatment were for government doctors: inhaled short-acting beta2-agonist (SABA) (98%), inhaled corticosteroids (CS) (75%), and leukotriene antagonist (52%); and for private doctors: oral SABA (81%), inhaled CS (68%), and oral CS (58%). The first choice inhaler device for most government and private doctors were metered dose inhalers, with cost and personal preferences (for private doctors), and technical ability (for government doctors) as the key considerations when deciding on the choice of device. This benchmark data on the asthma prescribing practices of a healthcare delivery system fully dichotomized into government and private sector, provides evidence for practice differences affected by the nature of the healthcare system, and might have implications on healthcare systems of other countries that share similarities with that of Malaysia.

Comparative evaluation of market spacer and home made spacer in the management of bronchial asthma.

INTRODUCTION: A study was conducted to compare the efficacy of market available spacer (with valve) and home made spacer (without valve)--Bislery bottle. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen patients of bronchial asthma were included in the study. With the use of both devices there was significant bronchodilator effect. The reversibility using Bislery bottle was same as with spacer (market available) while comparing the FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC %, FEF 25-75 and PEFR value. RESULT: The difference in percent change in reversibility values by both the devices was not statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: We concluded that the Bislery bottle (without valve) is very cheap compared to market-available spacer and is equally effective which, therefore, can be substituted in bronchial asthma patients, who are unable to afford the cost of market available spacers.

Efficacy of a home-made spacer with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma: a randomized controlled trial.

Metered dose inhaler (MDI) with spacer is the preferred method for administration of aerosolized medications in pediatric asthma. The expense of commercial spacers limits their use and indigenous alternatives have therefore been developed. Information on the clinical efficacy of home-made spacers is limited. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of a valve-less home-made spacer with a commercial spacer in delivering salbutamol via MDI in acute asthma. Asthmatic children aged 5-15 years who presented with an acute exacerbation to the pediatric chest clinic of a tertiary care hospital were enrolled in a single blinded randomized parallel group study. The study patients received 10 puffs of salbutamol (100 microg/puff) via MDI-home-made spacer or MDI-commercial spacer. Pre and post inhalation measurements of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), oxygen saturation (SaO2), respiratory rate (RR), pulse rate (PR) were made and compared. Sixty children were enrolled in the study, 31 were administered salbutamol via the home-made spacer and 29 via the commercial spacer. The median increase in PEFR was similar in both the groups (20.8% vs 22.2%, p=0.4), clinical improvement being satisfactory in all patients. The valve-less home-made spacer is equally efficacious and cheaper than the commercial spacer in administering bronchodilators in acute exacerbations of asthma. Further studies on the efficacy of home-made spacer in delivery of inhaled steroids are needed.

Paper spacers coupled to metered dose inhalers in family practice.

OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the clinical efficacy of drug delivery using paper spacer devices coupled to metered dose inhalers (MDI). 2. To compare the effectiveness of paper spacers with the standard volumatic spacer. DESIGN: Randomised double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Asthma clinic of a family practice at Kalutara. PATIENTS: 134 patients over 12 years of age, who attended the clinic with an acute episode of wheezing. METHOD: All patients over 12 years of age with an acute episode of wheezing who could speak a sentence of over 5 words were randomly allocated into 4 groups and administered salbutamol inhalations through a MDI coupled to a spacer. The first group used a 6-inch paper spacer, second group an 8-inch paper spacer, the third group a 10-inch paper spacer and the fourth group used a standard 750 ml volumatic spacer. MEASUREMENTS: In each subject, the peak expiratory flow rate (PFR) was recorded at the start, after placebo inhalation and after salbutamol inhalation. An increase of PFR of over 20% from the basal value was assessed as a good response. RESULTS: The number of patients who showed a good response after salbutamol inhalations in all four groups were very significant compared with the responses after placebo inhalations (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found in the effectiveness of salbutamol among the four other groups (p > 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: 1. All devices show equal efficacy. Metered dose inhalers and all 3 paper devices are as effective as the standard volumatic spacer. 2. The cost of a paper spacer device is negligible compared to that of the volumatic spacer. 3. The use of paper spacers in Sri Lankan family practices makes inhaled MDI therapy much cheaper without decreasing the effectiveness of drug delivery.