PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Forth, Victoria E.
AU  - Cardet, Juan Carlos
AU  - Chang, Ku-Lang
AU  - Ericson, Brianna
AU  - Hurley, Laura P.
AU  - Maher, Nancy E.
AU  - Staton, Elizabeth W.
AU  - Sosa, Bonnie Telón
AU  - Israel, Elliot
AU - on behalf of the PREPARE investigators
TI  - What Patients Call Their Inhalers Is Associated with “Asthma Attacks”
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2022.220270R2
DP  - 2023 Aug 09
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 650--661
VI  - 36
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/36/4/650.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/36/4/650.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2023 Aug 09; 36
AB  - Background: Clinician-patient miscommunication contributes to worse asthma outcomes. What patients call their asthma inhalers and its relationship with asthma morbidity are unknown.Methods: Inhaler names were ascertained from Black and Latinx adults with moderate-severe asthma and categorized as “standard” if based on brand/generic name or inhaler type (i.e., controller vs. rescue) or “non-standard” for other terms (i.e., color, device type, e.g., “puffer,” or unique names). Clinical characteristics and asthma morbidity measures were evaluated at baseline: self-reported asthma exacerbations one year before enrollment (i.e., systemic corticosteroid bursts, emergency department (ED)/urgent care (UC) visits, or hospitalizations), and asthma control and quality of life. Multivariable regression models tested the relationship between non-standard names and asthma morbidity measures, with adjustments.Results: Forty-four percent (502/1150) of participants used non-standard inhaler names. These participants were more likely to be Black (p=0.006), from the Southeast (p<0.001), and have fewer years with asthma (p=0.012) relative to those who used standard names. Non-standard inhaler names was associated with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 1.29 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.50, p=0.001; 1.8 vs. 1.5 events) for corticosteroid bursts for asthma, an IRR=1.43 (95% CI, 1.21-1.69, p<0.001; 1.9 vs. 1.4 events) for ED/UC visits for asthma, and an odds ratio=1.57 (95% CI, 1.12-2.18, p=0.008; 0.5 vs. 0.3 events) for asthma hospitalizations after adjustment.Conclusions: Patients who use non-standard names for asthma inhalers experience increased asthma morbidity. Ascertaining what patients call their inhalers may be a quick method to identify those at higher risk of poor outcomes.