Certain medical devices are widely used by consumers to control dangerous disease symptoms. Two of them, epinephrine self-injection and asthma inhalers, are used in emergency situations.
A new study shows that far too many patients don’t know how to use their life-saving devices correctly.
A study of patients who demonstrated how they used their devices found that only 16% of those with an EpiPen used it correctly. Even fewer asthma patients, only 7%, were able to demonstrate proper use of a metered dose inhaler.
The authors conclude
“that there is room for improvement in ensuring patients are able to correctly self-administer medications.”
[Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, online November 18, 2014]
