(1092) Nobody Taught Me! Inhaler Education in a Community Hospital

Introduction: Asthma and COPD exacerbations contribute to readmissions, often due to incorrect inhaler use. We aim to assess inhaler education at discharge to reduce readmissions.

Methods: Patients admitted to MFH from 9/1/2021 to 9/1/2022 with Asthma or COPD exacerbation, were reviewed using EMR. These patients were then called and queried regarding use of inhaler techniques and the supply of necessary maintenance and rescue inhalers on discharge.

Results: 98 patients admitted for asthma exacerbation were reviewed; 15 (15%) had peak flows documented, 71 (72%) advised to use a rescue/controller inhalers, 73 (75%) were advised to resume their home inhalers, 44 (45%) were prescribed new inhalers, 20 (20%) discharged with written instructions. 24 readmissions were counted from 17 different patients. 74 patients were called, 43 answered (58%); 2 (5%) had inhaler techniques reviewed, 8 (18%) did not know the difference between their rescue and maintenance inhaler, 3 (7%) had their inhalers changed.

142 patients admitted for COPD exacerbation were reviewed; 71 (61%) were advised to use a rescue/controller inhaler, 24 (21%) resumed their home inhalers. 25 (21%) patients were prescribed new inhalers, 11 (9%) discharged with written inhaler instructions. 23 readmissions were counted from 18 different patients. 119 patients were called, 64 answered (54%); 2(3%) had inhaler techniques reviewed, 1(2%) had difficulty obtaining inhalers, 64 (100%) patients knew the difference between control and rescue inhaler. No patients had their inhalers changed after discharge.

Conclusions: The study highlights the lack of inhaler technique education provided to patients who were admitted with exacerbations of asthma and COPD. Clear discharge instructions on inhaler use were insufficient in both COPD and asthma cases.

Healthcare providers need to prioritize providing adequate inhaler education to patients who have asthma and COPD. Based on these study findings, we aim to establish standardized protocols in our hospital for inhaler education for all admitted patients. We have implemented a teach-back approach for patients in order to actually visualize their technique in real-time, along with video instructions, with the ultimate goal of reducing readmission rates.