Who will teach the teachers: An analysis of the inhaler technique of Indian patients and health care providers in a tertiary health care centre.

INTRODUCTION: The proper use of inhalers is essential for ensuring proper control of the disease. Various studies have shown high levels of improper use and lack of knowledge of the correct technique among patients with asthma. However, less data are available on how health care workers (HCW's) use inhalers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mumbai. We evaluated the pMDI technique in 141 consecutive adult asthmatics and 100 HCW's. All patients and HCW's were graded out of 10 points for following 10 steps. These were derived from Melani et al.'s study on inhaler mishandling. RESULTS: Techniques of 141 patients and 100 HCW's (55 nurses and 45 doctors) were analyzed. The average technique score among patients ranged from 0 to 10 with a mean of 4.65 ± 2.00. The combined score for health workers ranged from 3 to 9 with a mean of 5.45 ± 1.47. Doctors had a higher score of 6.35 ± 1.33 as opposed to the nurses' score of 4.70 ± 1.13 (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between scores of nurses and patients (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the need for better education of not only patients but also health care providers regarding the appropriate use of inhaler devices in order to achieve optimal control of obstructive airway diseases.

Possible impact of the standardized Category IV regimen on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients in Mumbai.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB program involves a standard regimen with a 6-month intensive phase and an 18-month continuation phase. However, the local drug resistance patterns in high MDR regions such as Mumbai may not be adequately reflected in the design of the regimen for that particular area. SETTING: The study was carried out at a private Tertiary Level Hospital in Mumbai in a mycobacteriology laboratory equipped to perform the second-line drug susceptibility testing (DST). OBJECTIVE: We attempted to analyze the impact of prescribing the standardized Category IV regimen to all patients receiving a DST at our mycobacteriology laboratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All samples confirmed to be MDR-TB and tested for the second-line drugs at Hinduja Hospital's Mycobacteriology Laboratory in the year 2012 were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 1539 samples were analyzed. Of these, 464 (30.14%) were MDR-TB, 867 (56.33%) were MDR with fluoroquinolone resistance, and 198 (12.8%) were extensively drug-resistant TB. The average number of susceptible drugs per sample was 3.07 ± 1.29 (assuming 100% cycloserine susceptibility). Taking 4 effective drugs to be the cut or an effective regimen, the number of patients receiving 4 or more effective drugs from the standardized directly observed treatment, short-course plus regimen would be 516 (33.5%) while 66.5% of cases would receive 3 or less effective drugs. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that a high proportion of patients will have resistance to a number of the first- and second-line drugs. Local epidemiology must be factored in to avoid amplification of resistance.