Avaliação do conhecimento teórico-prático das técnicas inalatórias em crianças com asma

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the theoretical and practical knowledge of the inhaled technique of asthmatic children and their parents, in an outpatient clinic setting, and the association with control of disease. Methods: a cross-sectional and prospective study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge of inhaled technique in children and adolescents with asthma and their parents, in two outpatient clinics from Southern Brazil. Questionnaires assessing control of the disease and adherence to treatment, and evaluation of inhaled technique were applied. Results: 119 children and their parents were included. Only 24/119 (20%) of the parents reached the expected levels of theoretical knowledge about inhaled technique. In the practical evaluation of the inhalation technique by metered-dose inhaler (MDI), 31/59 (53%) of the parents reached satisfactory knowledge levels, and, of the 57 children evaluated by ID technique, only 9/57 (16%) of the children evaluated with MDI reached satisfactory knowledge levels, and only 11/28 (39%) of the children assessed with dry powder devices scored satisfactorily. In general, the evaluation of inhaled technique reached satisfactory levels in only 44/119 (37%) of the patients. There was no significant association between asthma control and knowledge levels of inhaled technique. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that children and their parents have reduced mastery of inhalation techniques. This basic problem of managing childhood asthma needs to be reviewed in the strategies used for disease education in real-life clinical settings.