Abstract:
Background: Both asthma and COPD treatment rely heavily on inhaled medicines. Metered dose
inhaler therapy is a commonly used method for administering drugs such as beta 2 agonists and
corticosteroids. Meanwhile, health care professionals' (HCP’s) and patients' knowledge and
experience with this metered dose inhaler are critical for the accurate delivery of these medications,
which has an impact on disease control and patient adherence. However, in Nigist Ellini
Mohammed Memorial Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (NEMMCSH), no research has been
done on health care professionals' competence in Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) technique and
associated factors previously.
Objective: This study aimed to assess competency (skill) in metered dose inhaler technique and
its associated factors among NEMMCSH health care professionals.
Method: Cross sectional study was employed on 300 health care professionals working in
NEMMCSH, southern Ethiopia from November 10, 2021, to January 10, 2022. The National
Asthma Education and Prevention Programs of America (NAEPP) step criteria for the
demonstration of a metered dose inhaler was used to rate the skill of using the inhaler and
theoretical questions about MDI were used to assess the basic knowledge of HCPS. Collected data
was first cleaned, edited, and entered into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for
analysis. First, descriptive data analysis was performed, and then bivariate logistic regression
analysis was carried out to determine the association of different potential factors. Independent
predictors were determined using an adjusted odd ratio with 95% CL at p-value < 0.05.
Results: Out of 314 health care professionals approached 300 (95.5%) were involved in the study.
Only 22(7.3%) of the study participants had an adequate level of competency in the MDI
technique. However, the odds of having an adequate level of competency in MDI technique was
more likely higher among pharmacists [(AOR=8.82, 95% CI: 2.59–30.07)] and General
Practitioners (GP) [(AOR=3.89, 95% CI: 1.26 -11.87)] compared to nurses.
Conclusion and recommendations: Health care providers (nurses, pharmacy, and GP)
competence in MDI techniques was poor, though qualification was found to be significant
predictor of their competence. To integrate HCP into the future asthma care establishing and
providing capacity building education and training has to be made by all stakeholders.
