title: Assessment of metered dose inhaler technique in family health service patients in Singapore.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the metered-dose inhaler technique in polyclinic patients with chronic lung disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in three polyclinics. The inhalation technique was assessed in six steps.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 7.1% of patients could perform all six steps correctly. Percentage of patients performing each of the following steps correctly were: preparation (89.1%), exhalation (53.8%), lip closure (69.2%), inhalation (57.7%), breath-holding (32.1%) and puff interval (35.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed a high incidence of incorrect usage of metered dose inhaler amongst polyclinic patients.
authors.affiliation: Queenstown Polyclinic, Singapore.
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012846:Singapore