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| |  AAFP: Lack of Spacer Use A Barrier To Asthma Therapy ORLANDO, FL. -- September 17, 1999 -- A new survey of leading physicians is shedding light on why asthma sufferers may not be doing all they can to effectively control their disease. While physicians are prescribing spacers to their asthma patients nearly two-thirds of the time, many of these prescriptions go unfilled. Spacers are chambers that help deliver medication to the lungs and reduce local side effects; they reduce the velocity of released medication and provide a more gentle mist of suspended particles. The survey was released today during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Physicians polled estimate that 61 percent of their patients fill spacer prescriptions, but actual prescription audits suggest that only 24 percent do. This data, coupled with the new survey findings, highlights the fact that as many as three-quarters of patients who are prescribed spacers may be ignoring their doctor’s instructions. The 1997 National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma cite spacers as a recommended tool for the effective long-term treatment of asthma. "Physicians understand the important role spacers play in the treatment of chronic asthma," said Allan Luskin, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine at University of Wisconsin in Madison. "However, without proper patient education on the use and value of these devices, spacer compliance will continue to be an issue." The physician spacer survey consists of interviews with a total of 517 physicians including family practice, general practice, internal medicine, pulmonologists and allergists. The final sample size yields a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent. The survey was conducted on behalf of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals Inc., manufacturers of Azmacort®, the only inhaled bronchial steroid clinically tested and approved with a built-in spacer. In echoing the NIH guidelines, seven out of ten physicians (71 percent) cited enhanced drug deposition (delivery to the lungs) as the greatest benefit provided by spacers, followed by a reduction in local side effects (27 percent). When asked to explain the low number of patients using spacers, physicians listed lack of patient knowledge of spacer values/benefits (32 percent), spacer cost (29 percent) and lack of patient motivation (28 percent) as the three greatest barriers preventing patients from using spacers as prescribed. "This survey has illustrated a handful of reasons why patients may not be using their spacers. In doing so, the study has put physicians on notice to take steps toward helping their patients understand the importance of spacers and better manage their disease," added Dr. Luskin. When asked how to improve patient spacer use, three-quarters (75 percent) of physicians found knowledge of spacer benefits to be most important to spacer compliance, with more than half (53 percent) finding a strong link between patient education on spacer use and spacer compliance. Furthermore, nearly nine out of ten physicians (86 percent) felt that spacer use would improve if time were taken to properly educate patients on how to use a spacer (50 percent) or on the value of a spacer (36 percent).
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