Developmental: Chaney Flashcards
background
poor adherence to prescribed meds as a problem for asthmatic children
aim
to show use of a novel asthma spacer device ‘funhaler’ can provide positive reinforcement which leads to improved adherence in young asthmatics
method
field exp in Australia
design
repeated measures
IV
use of standard inhaler or funhaler
DV
amount of adherence to prescribed regimes
sample
32 children 22m 10f age 1.5-6 years, parents consent
procedure
> comparisons between inhalers, no sig diff
ups approached by researcher at home, interviewed with questionnaire on existing inhaler
given funhaler for 2 weeks, report over phone on ad hoc basis
visited again by researcher after use of both inhalers, matched pairs questionnaire
data collected from self-report on how easy each device is to use, compliance of parents and children and treatment attitudes
aim to distract from drug delivery
results
> funhaler associated with improved parental and child compliance
81% of children using funhaler found to have been medicated the previous day, only 59% for normal inhaler
30% more children took recommended dose with funhaler
standard inhaler 3,20 parents reported being successful compared to 22/30 using funhaler
use of funhaler associated with few problems
conclusions
<funhaler>funhaler may improve measures of clinical outcome
>funhaler may improve health of children
</funhaler>