title: Metered-dose inhaler for asthma patients: knowledge and effects of a theoretical and practical guidance for pediatricians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of a theoretical and practical guidance on knowledge of pediatricians regarding the use of metered dose inhalers with spacers. To identify major deficiencies, correct them and train these physicians on the correct use of the devices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pediatricians who participated in a theoretical-practical program focusing on the use of inhaler devices answered a questionnaire with five questions about the use of these devices before and after the program. A comparison of the scores obtained in the pre- and post-training tests was performed by Wilcoxon test for related samples, and a significance level of 0.05 was adopted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty pediatricians performed pre- and post-training tests. The performance of pediatricians in the post-training test was significantly better than baseline (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A brief orientation program for pediatricians significantly improved their knowledge on the use of metered-dose inhalers with spacers, which may translate into an improvement in quality and quantity of prescriptions of these devices in clinical practice. The questions with higher rates of errors in the pre-training test were the questions about the waiting time between two sprays in successive applications and about the correct way to attach the inhaler to the spacer, both with high levels of success in the post-training test.
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Fábio Pereira
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Muchão
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Luiz Vicente Ribeiro Ferreira da
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Silva Filho
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pastorino
authors.affiliation: Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, BR.
authors.forename: Joaquim Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues