[Pharmacists' role in the management of asthma: a survey of 120 pharmacists in Bas-Rhin].
BACKGROUND
The pharmacist plays an essential role in the management of the asthmatic patients on account of their frequent visits to the pharmacy to obtain their medication.


METHODS
In order to evaluate the practice and knowledge of asthma among the pharmacists of the department of Bas-Rhin, 120 pharmacists were selected at random to reply to a standardised questionnaire.


RESULTS
The 86 pharmacists who replied to the questionnaire had a good general understanding of asthma and its treatment. However, only 26.4% knew all the criteria of the severity of an attack of asthma. Among the 57 pharmacists who gave a demonstration of the use of inhaler devices, 16.3% showed all the steps in the use of a metered dose aerosol. These results are comparable to those of non-specialist doctors and nurses in whom poor techniques were found in 63-100% and 65-96% respectively. The mean scores of the pharmacists were 10.5/12 (+/- 1.2) steps for metered dose aerosols, 10.4/11 (+/- 1.0) for the Tubuhaler, 9.3/12 (+/- 1.7) for the Autohaler and 8.1/9 (+/- 0.9) for the Volumatic spacer. The asthmatic patient's main expectation of the pharmacist concerned the use of the prescribed systems (87.2%), underlining the lack of information received by the patient at the time of prescription.


CONCLUSIONS
An improvement in the knowledge of the signs of severity of asthma and the use of inhaled devices could usefully be one of the objectives in the training of a dispensing pharmacist.
Casset
A
A
Service de Pneumologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 67091 Strasbourg Cedex, France.
Rebotier
P
P
Lieutier-Colas
F
F
Glasser
N
N
Heitz
C
C
Saigne
J
J
Pauli
G
G
de Blay
F
F
D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004513:Education, Pharmacy, Continuing; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010595:Pharmacists; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires