Do medical and nursing students know correct use of Inhalers? Results of UPSIDE India study

Background:-Obstructive Airways Diseases (OADs) are one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in India. Improper use of inhaler devices is by far most common reason for inadequate disease control. Treating physicians and nurses are main source of information on inhaler devices for patients in India. Aim: Through UPSIDE (U nderstanding of P ost graduate-PG Medicine, Undergraduate-UG Medicine and nursing S tudents about I nhaler DE vices) we aimed to understand level of knowledge and skills for using inhaler devices namely pMDI (pressurized metered dose inhalers) and pMDI with spacer among students from a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: An interviewer based questionnaire was administered which evaluated knowledge (7 points) and Skills (9 points for pMDI;10 for pMDI with spacer). Clean data was used for simple descriptive analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 23. Results: Out of 377 study participants approached, 269(71.3%) consented. Less than 2% of the total undergraduate, post graduate medical and nursing students knew how to use pMDI or pMDI with spacer correctly. The results for their knowledge and beliefs are mentioned in Fig. 1. Conclusion: Less than 2% of doctors and nurses in a tertiary care teaching hospital know how to use an inhaler device correctly and 46% believe that inhalers are addictive. This study highlights the need to educate doctors and nurses in India about the proper use of inhaler devices.