Asthma patients and those with severe allergies are often not being taught how to use their prescribed medical devices correctly, charities have warned.
In some cases, this has led to people being prescribed stronger inhalers than actually needed, said Asthma UK and are calling for improved training for patients and staff.
Studies conducted by the charity suggest people have difficulty with the instructions on auto-injectors when there is an emergency.
The warning comes after a separate study in the US revealed only 16% of those who were prescribed adrenalin auto-injectors actually used them properly.
Common errors cited included not holding the device in place for the minimum 10 seconds and not pushing down with the needle with enough force to let the adrenalin in.
The same study, led by Dr Rana Bonds from the University of Texas Medical Branch, showed that 7% of asthma sufferers used asthma inhalers in the correct way. The study was reported in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Dr Bonds said the results suggested people were not being properly trained to use the devices from their issue date or “forgot the instructions over time”.
Maureen Jenkins, clinical director of Allergy UK, told BBC News that she was not surprised by the findings, saying that with the many different inhaler and auto-injector designs, patients required advice specific to the device they had. This often didn’t happen, she said, but believes pharmacists are ideally placed to train patients on the devices when they pick them up from the chemist.
“We have just finished a leaflet on allergic asthma which talks about proper use of these devices,” she added.
Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said that even though, in theory, everyone issued with an inhaler should have yearly check-ups to assess their technique, figures showed that a third of people with asthma were making mistakes with their inhalers, with some of these mistakes significant enough to reduce how effective their treatment is.
“This is also hugely wasteful – asthma-prescribing is one of the most expensive areas of cost for the NHS, costing almost £1bn annually.
“You wouldn’t give someone a new car without them having driving lessons first, so if you are going to invest in prescribing a lifetime of asthma medicines, it’s crucial that healthcare professionals ensure that their patients know how to use them.”