Vibrating-mesh nebulizer maintenance by CF patients: Results from a French survey.
Vibrating-mesh nebulizers are widely used at home for cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment, with a therapeutic efficiency closely linked to the mesh performance. This national study looks at the maintenance at home by CF patients and their families of the mesh of the eFlow®rapid nebulizer. Ninety-two patients from 34 French CF centers, treated at home with inhaled drugs delivered with a vibrating-mesh nebulizer, answered to a phone standardized questionnaire specifying the different techniques of maintenance of the nebulizer.



Patients were aged from 2 to 68 years (58.7% of children). They inhaled a mean of 1.8 nebulizations per day. Maintenance was assumed by patients in 36% of the cases. All steps of the theoretical maintenance of a nebulizer were respected in 66% of the cases. The mesh was not cleaned in 45.6%, not disinfected or not thermically disinfected in 32.5%, and not rinsed after chemical disinfection in 45.5% of the case. Only 49% of the patients knew the role of the MeshCare®system in the mesh maintenance, and only 39% had already used it when the nebulization duration reached 10 min.



Efforts about education, particularly for the maintenance of the mesh, are needed for CF patients using a vibrating-mesh nebulizer at home.
Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Timone Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France. Electronic address: melisande.baravalle@ap-hm.fr.
Melisande
M
Baravalle-Einaudi
Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Nord Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, 13915 Marseille, France. Electronic address: nadine.dufeu@ap-hm.fr.
Nadine
N
Dufeu
Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. Electronic address: dupontcochin@gmail.com.
Christian
C
Dupont
INSERM, Centre d'Etude des Pathologies Respiratoires, UMR 1100, and Aerodrug, F-37032 Tours, France. Electronic address: vecellio@med.univ-tours.fr.
Laurent
L
Vecellio
Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France. Electronic address: bertrand.delaisi@aphp.fr.
Bertrand
B
Delaisi
Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Timone Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France. Electronic address: ania.carsin@ap-hm.fr.
Ania
A
Carsin
Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Timone Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, 13385 Marseille, France. Electronic address: jean-christophe.dubus@ap-hm.fr.
Jean-Christophe
JC
Dubus
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000336:Aerosols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014732:Vibration; D055815:Young Adult
D000336:Aerosols
Cystic fibrosis; Disinfection; Hygiene; Mesh nebulizer