Farmaceutisk inhalationsvägledning på apotek: en pilotstudie inom TLV:s försöksverksamhet

Sammanfattning

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] are common chronic respiratory diseases in which inhaled medications are an important part of treatment. For the treatment to have the intended effect, patients need to use their inhalers correctly. Incorrect inhaler use may lead to reduced treatment effect and poorer disease control. In April 2026, pharmacist-led inhaler counselling was introduced as a pharmacy service in Sweden, aiming to support patients in the correct use of inhalers.The aim of this study was to investigate documented inhaler handling errors among patients with asthma and COPD in connection with pharmacist-led inhaler counselling in community pharmacies. The study was conducted as a quantitative observational study with a descriptive cross-sectional design. Data was collected using a structured observation and documentation form completed by pharmacists during inhaler counselling at two community pharmacies between 30 March 2026 and 26 May 2026. A total of 27 forms were included in the analysis. At least one handling error or need for correction was documented in 17 cases, while 10 patients did not require correction. The most common errors concerned inhaler storage, inhalation technique, inhaler preparation and dose loading. Practical demonstration was the most common pharmacist intervention and was documented in all cases where correction was needed. The study shows that inhaler handling errors occurred in a large proportion of the included patients. The results suggest that pharmacist-led inhaler counselling in community pharmacies may help identify and correct errors that can affect safe and correct medication use. Due to the limited sample size, the results should be interpreted with caution.