Among patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), two-thirds of inhalers assessed at admission are misused, according to a study in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases. Researchers described the prevalence of misused inhalers among patients hospitalized with COPD in a department of general internal medicine. The analysis included 96 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of COPD and hospitalized in the internal medicine division between August 2022 and April 2023. The researchers found that of the 160 inhalers assessed at admission, 69.4% were misused, including 65.6% due to the presence of a critical error in the inhalation technique and 13.8% due to insufficient peak inspiratory flow. Furthermore, 16.9% of inhalers were unsuitable, while 82.3% of patients used at least one misused inhaler.
