Chaney (2004) Flashcards
What was the study background?
Research has shown that young children struggle to comply with doctors orders to take asthma medication as often as they should also they struggle with the notion of deep breathing technique. PMDI – pressurised metre dose inhaler. Funhaler – an inhaler that makes a noise.
What was the aim?
To show that the use of a ‘novel’ asthma spacer device, the funhaler, and can provide positive reinforcement, which leads to improved adherence to medication by young adults.
What were the research methods?
Field experiment conducted in Australia using a repeated measures design.
IVs - the breath-a-tech and a Funhaler.
DV - the amount of adherence to the prescribed medication regime.
What was the sample?
32 children, aged 1.5 to 6, from Australia. Average duration of asthma of 2.2 years. Parents gave informed consent, completed a questionnaire and phone interview.
What was the procedure?
Dosages were in line with each other. Were asked to use the funhaler instead of their normal PDMI and spacer for a two week period. Matched questionnaires were done before and after the study. Data was collected from the self-reported related to how easy it was to use, compliance of parents and children and treatment attitudes. They were called at random times to find out whether they had attempted to administer the medication.
What were the results?
The Funhaler was associated with improved parental and child compliance. 38% more parents were found to have medicated their children the previous day when using the Funhaler compared to their existing small volume spacer. 60% more children took the recommended four or more cycles. Significantly more parents reported they were always successful in medicating their child using the Funhaler.
What were the conclusions?
Improved adherence, combined with satisfactory delivery characteristics, suggest that the Funhaler may be useful for management of young asthmatics. The use of the Funhaler could possibly be translated to improve measures of clinical outcome. The use of the functional devices such as the Funhaler may improve the health of children.
