Table 2.
Survey respondents’ background and characteristics of patients with and without adherence to inhalation therapy
| Total | Adherence |
P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Poor | |||
| Patients (number) | 55 | 30 | 25 | |
| Age (years) | 69 ± 8 | 70 ± 8 | 67 ± 7 | 0.11 |
| Gender (female) | 15 | 8 | 7 | >0.99 |
| Current smoking (yes) | 8 | 6 | 2 | >0.99 |
| Frequency of clinic visitsa (per year) | 8 (4–18) | 7.5 (4–16) | 8 (4–18) | 0.80 |
| Duration of disease (years) | 9 ± 9 | 8 ± 9 | 9 ± 17 | 0.09 |
| Period of inhaler use (years) | 6 ± 6 | 6 ± 6 | 5 ± 8 | 0.10 |
| Frequency of inhaler use (per day) | 2.4 ± 1.0 | 2.3 ± 0.7 | 2.0 ± 0.6 | 0.11 |
| Type of inhaler device (DPI, MDI, and DPI + MDI) | 18, 18, 19 | 10, 10, 10 | 8, 9, 8 | 0.98 |
| Presence of comorbidities | 37 | 20 | 17 | >0.99 |
| Taking of antipsychotic drugs | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0.75 |
| Stage of COPD (I, II, III, IV) | 13, 30, 9, 3 | 6, 17, 5, 2 | 7, 13, 4, 1 | 0.89 |
| FEV1% predicted value (%) | 68.1 ± 16.0 | 68.4 ± 16.2 | 67.6 ± 16.2 | 0.91 |
| FEV1/FVC (%) | 56.3 ± 13.1 | 57.2 ± 13.3 | 54.0 ± 13.3 | 0.37 |
| Presence of repeated instruction | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0.033 |
| Overall mean adherence score | 4.1 ± 0.7 | 4.6 ± 0.4 | 3.3 ± 0.3 | <0.001 |
a
Notes: Median value. Good adherence was defined by an overall mean adherence score ≥4.0, and poor adherence means score <4.0.
Abbreviations: DPI, dry powder inhaler; MDI, metered-dose inhaler.