Studies with other devices
| Ref. | Disease | Subjects n | Design and treatment duration | Devices and drugs compared | Assessment | Clinical outcome | Which preferred? | Sponsor |
| [25] | Asthma and COPD | 224 | Cross-over, 7 weeks | Respimat® Soft MistTM Inhaler* versus pMDI (IB/FEN) | Validated questionnaire (PASAPQ, Likert scales), technique | PEF, rescue medications, symptoms | Respimat® Soft MistTM Inhaler* (80% of 201 patients) | Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH |
| [26] | Asthma | 79 | Cross-over, 8 weeks | Easyhaler# (BDP) versus TurbuhalerTM¶ (BUD) | Questionnaire (10 items), efficacy and acceptability (VAS) | FEV1, PEF, rescue medications, symptoms | Easyhaler# (59%) | Orion |
| [27] | Asthma | 171 | Parallel group, 12 weeks | MAGhaler+ versus pMDI (BDP) | Questionnaire (3 items, all VAS) | FEV1, rescue medications, symptoms | Equally acceptable | Schwabe and Wolff |
| [28] | Asthma | 25 | Cross-over, 4 weeks | Airmax§ versus TurbuhalerTM¶ (BUD) | Overall preference, ease of use | FEV1, PEF, rescue medications, symptoms | Airmax§ (64%) | Ivax |
| [29] | Asthma | 34 | Open (patients used both devices together), 12 weeks | pMDI and AutohalerTMƒ (drug not specified) | Single question (“preference”), canister weight | Compliance | Compliance not related to patient opinion (related to dose frequency) | None |
| [30] | OLD | 52 | Cross-over (non-randomised), 2 weeks | DiskhalerTM** (BDP and SLB) versus pMDI (BDP + FEN) | Single question (preference), technique score | None | DiskhalerTM** (66%) but compared to device used before study | None |
COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; pMDI: pressurised metered-dose inhaler; IB: ipratropium bromide; FEN: fenoterol; PASAPQ: Patient Satisfaction and Preference Questionnaire; PEF: peak expiratory flow; BDP: beclomethasone dipropionate; BUD: budesonide; VAS: visual analogue score; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; OLD: obstructive lung disease; SLB: salbutamol. *: manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH & Co. KG, Ingelheim, Germany; #: Orion, Espoo, Finland; ¶: AstraZeneca, Lund, Sweden; +: Dr Willmar Schwabe, Karlsruhe, Germany; §: Ivax, Miami, FL, USA; ƒ: 3M Pharmaceuticals, St Paul, MN, USA; **: GlaxoSmithKline, Brentford, UK.