Device Matters: Looking Beyond the Drug

Prof Helen Reddel opened the symposium by discussing the need to examine the modifiable nonpharmacological factors in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that can be addressed to improve clinical outcomes. Dr Kai-Michael Beeh set the scene and discussed the need to review patient behaviour and drug delivery mechanisms to improve outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD. Dr John Haughney then discussed how patient preferences for inhalers can impact real-world outcomes. Prof Sinthia Bosnic-Anticevich outlined the challenges in learning and maintaining correct inhaler technique, while Prof Henry Chrystyn highlighted how inhaler design can help minimise the impact of inhaler errors on clinical outcomes. Prof Helen Reddel closed the session by bridging the gap between guidelines and clinical care, describing ways to incorporate regular checking and training of inhaler skills into a range of settings. The meeting objectives were to look beyond drugs to the role of devices in optimising asthma and COPD management, to understand the impact of inhaler technique on treatment efficacy, to review how patient perspectives about their inhaler can impact on clinical outcomes, and to discuss how to implement current clinical guidelines on inhaler technique in day-to-day clinical care.