Evalulation of Activities Conducted by Pharmaceutical Care Clinic with Respect to Outpatient Inhalation Treatment

Inhalation medicines are the most effective way of treating asthma at present.However,when inhalers are not used properly,their effect will not be adequate.With this in mind,pharmacists at Nagoya University Hospital established“Pharmaceutical Care Clinic for Outpatient Inhalation Treatment”in June 2001,with the support of the Department of Respiratory Internal Medicine.Our pharmacists teach patients the proper inhalation technique and give them useful information on the pathophysiology of asthma and appropriate use of medicines.In this study,we conducted an investigation to see if the counseling given by pharmacists enabled patients to learn the proper inhalation technique and helped in relieving their symptoms.They were able to learn the proper inhalation technique as well as the operation of the PEF (peak flow) meter,and there were improvements in PEF,adherence and symptoms.These findings indicate that counseling provided by pharmacists in such an outpatient clinic is a valuable way of improving the quality of life of patients.