Improving inhaler use in COPD and the role of patient preference

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a difficult disease to manage, but recent research focusing on its pathophysiology has provided direction for the development of new treatments and improved management strategies. COPD differs substantially from asthma, both in its pathophysiology and its treatment. Unlike asthma, COPD cannot be fully controlled or "reversed''; it is progressive and responses to antiinflammatory drugs, including corticosteroids, have been disappointing, suggesting the presence of a unique, persistent form of inflammation. The current main emphasis in the treatment of COPD is therefore to minimise airflow obstruction using regular bronchodilator therapy. Apparently small improvements in traditional measures of airflow obstruction, such as functional residual capacity, may produce significant improvements in other measures, resulting in clinical benefit. Ensuring efficient delivery of bronchodilators is vital to treatment success but has received little attention in guidelines to date. Inhaler technique, adherence rates and levels of satisfaction with therapy are all far from ideal. Improvements in these areas require more detailed consideration of the interactions between the patient, the healthcare provider and the inhaler device, and an examination of how inhaler choices are currently made by both healthcare provider and patient.