Ease-of-use study of pirbuterol acetate in the Autohaler actuator in three countries: the United States, Germany, and France.

The preferred form of acute bronchodilator therapy is to administer aerosolized beta-agonist by a metered-dose inhaler. Many patients cannot use this device efficiently, the major problem being coordination of dose release with inspiration. A new breath-actuated inhaler (the Autohaler actuator) has been developed to overcome this problem. The objective of this study was to evaluate patient's and staff's perceptions of this device. Ninety-eight percent of patients rated the device easy to use and 83% rated the overall use as excellent or good. The staffs rated it as excellent or good for 93% of patients. It was concluded that patients would accept this device, and greater patient compliance could be realized.