Supporting children with asthma inhaler technique

Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory diseases in children, and the use of metered dose inhalers (MDIs) with spacer devices is central to the management of this condition (GINA, 2024; NICE, 2024). It is recommended to use MDIs with a spacer device in order to slow down the drug, which is propelled at force as an aerosol, allowing better lung deposition (Henry, 2023). The GINA (2024) guidelines recommend the use of a spacer or a valved holding chamber (VHC) with a pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) for optimal treatment management. They recommend that parents and children should know about these devices alongside their pMDI (GINA, 2024).

Children can be instructed to administer each puff of their bronchodilator separately by a VHC (Csonka et al, 2021; Panda et al, 2022). As soon as the child is capable of holding the mouthpiece of the VHC tightly between the lips and