Adherence to inhalers and associated factors among adult asthma patients: an outpatient-based study in a tertiary hospital of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Adherence to inhaler medication is an important contributor to optimum asthma control along with adequate pharmacotherapy. The objective of the present study was to assess self-reported adherence levels and to identify the potential factors associated with non-adherence to the inhalers among asthma patients. METHODS: This facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the medicine outpatient department of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from November 2020 to January 2021. A total of 357 clinically confirmed adult asthma patients were interviewed. Inhaler adherence was measured using the 10-item Test of Adherence scale (TAI).. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to express the socio-demographic of the patients and predictors of poor adherence to inhaler. RESULTS: A substantial number of participants were non-adherent (86%) to inhaler medication. Patients non-adherent to inhaler medication are often younger (23.15, 95% CI 3.67-146.08), lived in the rural area (23.28, 95% CI 2.43-222.66), less year of schooling (5.69, 95% CI 1.27-25.44), and belonged to the middle income (aOR 9.74, 95% CI 2.11-44.9) than those adherent with the inhaler. The presence of comorbidities (12.91, 95% CI 1.41-117.61), prolonged duration of inhaler intake (5.69, 95% CI 1.22-26.49), consulting non-qualified practitioners (13.09, 95% CI 3.10-55.26) were the significant contributor of non-adherence. CONCLUSION: Despite ongoing motivation and treatment, non-adherence to inhalation anti-asthmatic is high and several factors have been found to contribute. Regular monitoring and a guided patient-centered self-management approach might be helpful to address them in long run.

Survey and analysis of consumers' behaviour for electronic waste management in Bangladesh.

This paper aims to establish consumer's perception of electric waste recycling and management on a national scale in Bangladesh. The attitude, willingness to pay (WTP) and consumers' behaviour were explored by conducting a questionnaire-based survey. The conclusions are based on 915 valid responses out of 2000 online survey invitations. Interestingly, 37.9% of the respondents indicated that they would accept to pay for electronic waste recycling. Analysis also shows that the preferred WTP would cover 5-10% of the recycling cost. Factors like environmental awareness, monthly income, and education level affect the consumers' WTP. Nevertheless, most of the participants believe that the Government should share the recycling cost. The study suggests that e-waste recycling can be stimulated by promoting environmental awareness, educating the public about the benefits of recycling e-waste, and making e-waste recycling more convenient. However, additional measures will likely be needed to tackle the e-waste problem. Thus, support for environmental education is imperative in order to promote environmental awareness and increase the WTP of consumers. The study outlines key characteristics of consumer-focused e-waste management archetypes and proposes an effective road map for Bangladesh.